His Greatest Fear
by HermioneGranger4343
Summary: Teddy and Victoire begin to fall in love. He really likes her and she really likes him but neither want to admit it at first. His greatest fear of losing one he loves keeps getting in the way of their relationship. Will love conquer all?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

**Chapter One**

Teddy Lupin was having the most boring day ever. It was his seventh year at Hogwarts, and he was stuck in double Potions with Slytherin house. The Potions professor, Professor Blackwing was walking around inspecting the students' potion. They were supposed to be making a shrinking potion, but Teddy and his partner and best friend Ross Finnigan had already finished and tested theirs. Thus, they got to sit and watch some of the students be humiliated by the results their potion yielded. Finally, at long last, after what seemed like an eternity, Professor Blackwing said they could go. Teddy and Ross jumped up happily, because it was their last class before the weekend, and it was a Hogsmeade weekend. As he and Ross discussed what they would do in Hogsmeade, Teddy's bright blue eyes shone almost as brightly as his ever-changing hair. He had made it blue for the day. He loved the fact that he had inherited his mother's metamorphmagus gene. He could make his hair and face be almost anything he wanted. He pretty much left his face alone, because besides pictures, it was the only memory he had of his mother and father. His hair, however, changed daily.

He had inherited more than being able to change hair color though. He had also inherited a half-werewolf gene. When the full moon came around, he became a grumpy mess who couldn't get enough bloody steaks. People just sort of stayed away from him. Beyond that, though, he was one of the most popular kids in the school. He was a beater on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, and had so many friends he didn't know what to do with them. His best friend though was Ross.

Ross Finnigan was Seamus Finnigan's son. Seamus had wound up marrying Parvati Patil, of all people, and they had had two children: Ross and Becky. Becky was in her third year. Ross looked at lot like his mom. He had dark black hair and olive-colored skin and brown eyes. He was tall, though, and good-looking to boot. He and Teddy couldn't keep the girls away from them most of the time. Passing through the Gryffindor common room was usually a fiasco of female giggles. Teddy and Ross, along with a few other great guys, stayed in a room together in Gryffindor tower. They had gotten the room that Harry Potter himself had stayed in during his years at Hogwarts. Since Harry was Teddy's godfather, it had been really cool that he had managed to get in his old room. Harry even came to visit his children, Teddy, and his nieces and nephews at Hogwarts some weekends.

Although Teddy was popular, his love life was something of a shambles lately. He had dated a few girls, but never seriously enough to last. Ross had been dating Rose Weasley for quite some time now. She was in her sixth year along with Harry's oldest, Albus, and Victoire Weasley, Fleur and Bill's daughter. Teddy himself had dated Rose back in his fourth year—her third—but it hadn't worked out. They were still close friends and she hung out with him and Ross a lot as did Victoire, since she was good friends with Rose. Rose was a pretty girl. She looked just exactly like Hermione had when she was in school. She was slender with brown eyes and bushy hair, except it was red like her father's. However, the bushiness was not quite so bad now that she was getting older. She was brainy like Hermione, as well. She spent a lot of her spare time looking things up in the library. Victoire always tagged along and did her homework there. Teddy and Ross had to go get a book for Potions once the year before and the girls were in there with their heads together, giggling. When they had walked by, the giggling had come to an abrupt end and the girls had blushed crimson. As soon as the boys got behind the bookshelf, Teddy had heard them dissolve into another fit of giggles. They had found out later that Rose had been telling Victoire she liked Ross. He had asked her out shortly after.

Teddy's thoughts turned to Victoire as he got ready for bed that night. He couldn't wait until the Hogsmeade visit and he was sure that Rose and Victoire would be with them the whole time. Victoire had her mother's piercing blue eyes, and long blonde hair, but her hair had the lightest streaks of auburn in it that could only be seen in the sunlight. She was part Veela, which made all the boys chase after her endlessly, but, like Teddy was with the giggling, she seemed to ignore it for the most part. She was tall, almost as tall as Teddy, and slender, but curved in all the right places. Teddy shook his head, smiling. It had been too long since he had had a girlfriend for him to be thinking about Victoire like this. He rolled over and went to sleep, contemplating what all he and his friends would do in Hogsmeade the next day.

Teddy was awakened by a hand shaking his shoulder. He blinked in the bright sunlight that was streaming in the window and immediately put his hand up to shield his eyes. He looked around to see who was shaking him. Devon and Butler Thomas, Dean Thomas's twin sons, were standing over him grinning.

"Wake up, Teddy! You're going to be late for Hogsmeade! Come on! Get up!" Devon grabbed one arm and Butler grabbed the other and they dragged him to his feet. Dean had married a witch he had met in his profession after Hogwarts. Devon and Butler both had a creamy light brown colored skin and reddish brown afros. They were rail thin, unlike their father. They took after their mother in that respect. Teddy had only seen her once, at King's Cross Station their first year. She had had the creamiest white skin anyone could imagine and dark auburn hair and bright green eyes, and her sons had eyes to match. She had been tall and slender, and Teddy had quite thought she wasn't a bad catch. He had told Devon and Butler as much. They had scoffed at the thought that their mother was pretty, since boys usually don't think of their mothers in that respect.

Teddy blinked once again, and began to slowly gather clothing to put on. He inspected himself in the mirror and decided a color change of hair was definitely in order. Blue hair did not go with his black and orange pullover sweatshirt and his black pants. He changed his hair to black with small orange highlights to perfectly match what he was wearing. His hair was already mussed from rolling out of bed, but he mussed it just a bit more and turned to tell the twins that he was ready. But they were already gone. Only Ross still stood waiting for him.

"Sorry, buddy, they were in sort of a hurry," Ross offered by way of explanation, but Teddy shrugged it off.

"Come on, let's go find Rose and Vicky," Teddy said, calling Victoire by her pet name her parents had given to her when she was little. It had stuck, even though she didn't particularly care for it. Teddy had once asked her what she wanted to be called, and she informed him that she wanted a normal name that wasn't French. Her mother had been outraged, of course. They had been at Mrs. Weasley's for Christmas dinner when it had happened. Harry had just laughed and said she would get over it when she got older. Ginny had said she did, and her mother had turned very red and angry and told her that Ginevra was quite a lovely name. She had launched into its meaning and where it came from, but Teddy had politely made his exit along with Vicky, James, Albus, and Rose. Only those who were too young to be excused from the table or who weren't finished eating had stayed to hear that speech.

"Teddy! Ross! Hurry up!" Rose was calling across the common room the moment they had emerged at the foot of the stairs to the boy's dormitory.

"Where's Vicky?" Teddy asked when they reached the portrait hole.

"Oh, she said she would meet us there. She had a new friend that she had promised to meet up with first. I told her we would meet her at the Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer." Rose was leading them down the staircase to the main entrance of Hogwarts. Teddy was fleetingly thinking that he was hungry and had missed breakfast, but remembered that he could eat something that Madam Rosmerta cooked up. She was quite a good cook, even though she was getting a bit older now.

As Professor McGonagall checked each of them off and nodded them off to Hogsmeade, Teddy saw Victoire far off in the distance with a figure that was distinctively male. He found himself feeling something he had never felt before. He was angry and wanted to throttle the boy that she was with. Ross was holding Rose's hand and talking to her in their own conversation now, and Teddy was feeling a little left out. He walked a little behind them to give them a bit of privacy. He suddenly heard someone calling his name. He turned to see Professor McGonagall beckoning him back. He told Ross he would meet them at the Three Broomsticks in a bit.

"Yes, Professor?" he said as he walked back toward her.

"Listen, Lupin, I don't want any funny business this trip to Hogsmeade. If something else goes wrong this time, I shall have to ban you from going to Hogsmeade again." Teddy knew what she was referring to. The last time they had gone into Hogsmeade, he had bought a load of exploding products from Zonko's and set them off in the Slytherin common room the next day. He wouldn't have been caught, except he dropped one in the Gryffindor common room and left one in his trunk which was found in a search of each house's dormitories. It had been a dare, and he had taken it. He had even used Harry's Invisibility cloak to sneak around. Harry had let him use it since his third year, deciding that he needed it far more than any of his children did. James and Albus were constantly trying to sneak out after hours, but Teddy rarely sneaked about…well, perhaps only when dared to do so.

"Yes, Professor, I promise nothing will happen. I am meeting my friends in the Three Broomsticks for some butterbeer and then I think I'm taking a trip to the Shrieking Shack." Teddy paused here, thinking of his father inside that shack all alone. "I wish I could have known him and Mum," he whispered.

"I know that makes life hard, but you mustn't make anymore trouble for yourself, Lupin," McGonagall replied, her expression somewhat softened. He nodded jerkily, and hurried ahead without a response. He didn't want her to see the tears filling his eyes as they so often did when he thought about his parents. He ran to catch up with Ross and Rose, and found that they had caught up with Vicky and her friend.

"Teddy!" Vicky exclaimed upon seeing him. "Where have you been?"

Having composed himself, he replied, "I was speaking with Professor McGonagall about transfiguring something," he lied smoothly. He couldn't help but give the boy with her the once-over. He was about a half-inch shorter than she was, but a lot of boys were shorter than she was since she was tall. He had mousy brown hair, brown eyes, and coke-bottle-thick glasses. His clothes looked as if they had come from a rag bag, and were rumpled. He was shivering a bit in the cold, because he had no hat or mittens. Everyone else was dressed warmly as the snow fell lightly to land on their noses. Vicky's eyelashes were clumped with snowflakes, but she just brushed them away laughing. The boy said something to her, and hurried ahead, leaving the group to themselves. As soon as the boy was gone, Teddy's previous anger that he was unsure of left him as abruptly as it had arrived. Ross and Rose broke away from Teddy and Vicky, whispering and laughing. Vicky tucked her hand into the crook of Teddy's arm.

"Boy, it sure is cold, isn't it?" she remarked. "I'd better stay close to you to keep warm." She smiled, and he reveled in the feel of her body close to his. He got as close as possible to her.

"Yeah, I'm cold, too," he agreed. Even though he had been quite comfortable without her right there next to him, it was so much better with her than without her. She had on a knitted cap that Mrs. Weasley had made her for the last Christmas. She decided that sweaters took too long, and began making everyone caps. It was a cute snowcap with the two little strings hanging down on each side with little puffballs on the end of them. She had made Vicky a pink one that perfectly matched her pink pullover sweatshirt and blue jeans. She laid her snowcapped head over on his shoulder as they entered Hogsmeade and headed toward the Three Broomsticks.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

Teddy had ordered so many rounds of butterbeers for himself and his friends that the table was cluttered with bottles. Victoire was a little loopy from all the drinks and Rose was positively wasted. Ross was holding her up as they all rose from the table. Rose hiccupped and laughed loudly at nothing. They had been having so much fun, that Teddy had completely forgotten to ask Victoire about that guy she was walking with earlier. He had never come into the pub, so Teddy had just forgotten. As the foursome began making their way up to the school with the remaining stragglers who had not already gone back, Hugo Weasley ran up to them. He started to speak, but his eyes widened.

"Oh, Rose, just you wait until I tell Mom and Dad about this! I'll bet you'll lose broomstick privileges and Hogsmeade trips for the rest of the year!" Hugo was grinning broadly, and Ross looked as if he were about to pummel Hugo into the side of the castle. Teddy jumped in while Rose dangled on Ross's arm, precariously close to falling to the ground at any minute.

"You'll do no such thing, Hugo! It was my fault, and the last thing I need is my best friend's girlfriend getting into trouble. Just run along, and let us take care of it. Besides, you're too young to go to Hogsmeade. What are you doing out here?" Teddy frowned. Hugo was only in his second year.

"Professor McGonagall said I could be her special assistant and help her heard the students back in."

"You—HIC—got—giggle—detenshun agin din ya?" Rose slurred before slumping a bit against Ross.

"So that makes you even," Teddy said before Hugo could say anything. "If she doesn't tell your mom about the detention you won't tell your mom about her having one too many butterbeers, will you?"

"I'd say it was more than one!" Hugo exclaimed, but nodded all the same.

***

About an hour later, when Ross had fallen asleep on his bed and Victoire had made sure that Rose was soundly unconscious in her bed, Teddy and Victoire decided to sit alone in the Gryffindor Common Room. They had stayed in Hogsmeade past dinner time, although they had eaten in the pub. Rosmerta's food really was amazing. Each sat in a squashy armchair smiling contentedly into the fire. The common room was otherwise deserted, except for a few first years in the corner studying. Suddenly, the thought of the boy Victoire had been with earlier crossed his mind.

"Vicky, I'm not trying to be nosey or anything—" he began.

"Oh, yes you are, because if you weren't you wouldn't have said that before asking me whatever it is. But go ahead," she replied, grinning even more broadly than before. She smoothed an errant strand of hair behind her ear and looked at him expectantly.

"Well…I was just wondering…that is to say…" he went off into awkward silence, not knowing how to ask her who the boy was without seeming impertinent. Her eyes brightened, and Teddy began to get worried. He thought maybe he would have gone to far as to ask her and began to think of something else to take the place of the question he was going to ask when she said something that completely blew what he had been about to ask her out of the water.

"You want to know if I'll go out on a date with you, don't you? I don't see how that would be nosey, unless you were going to ensure I didn't have a boyfriend first. Well, rest assured that there is no one. Oh, I'll bet you were worried about Roger. Poor thing, he's a third year, and having a time of it in Professor Longbottom's class. I've been giving him study sessions every evening since term started. I don't understand how someone could be so inept at Herbology—oh, by the way, the answer is yes. I'll go on a date with you. I rather like you, Teddy. I'm going to bed. See you tomorrow? Oh, and can I tell my friends we're an item or no?" She said this all in one rushed breath, and Teddy just stared at her, open-mouthed. He nodded at her. She stretched, yawned, and stood up. She kissed him lightly on the cheek, and with a little wave, took off up the stairs to the girls' dormitories.

Teddy sat back in the armchair, still gaping at his awkward success. He wasn't even going to ask her that. He just wanted to know who that boy was, which had turned out to be nothing more than someone she was helping out of her good charity. She really was a sweet girl. Apparently, she had liked him a lot longer than he had known. His mind went back in time to his first real memory of Victoire…

He was five years old, and hanging out with the Weasleys for Christmas. He was sitting outside, all bundled up, just watching the snow fall.

"Hey, Teddy!" a little girl's voice called to him. "Do you want to come and play with me?" Victoire was standing in front of him, her lopsided hat revealing disheveled hair. The four-year-old was covered in snowflakes.

"Sure!" he had agreed readily. "What happened to you?" he asked curiously, as children do.

"Hugo just learned to walk, and Aunt Minee told me to help him through the snow. But we kept falling down, and Hugo thought it was funny. I told Aunt Minee I wasn't going to play with Hugo in the snow anymore because he laughed at me, and Rose could play with him instead. She said he's just a baby, but he really thought it was funny!" Victoire's sweet face had screwed up and turned red with this rush of words, and when she had finished, she had begun to cry. Teddy remembered feeling helpless. He had put his arm around her, but that, too, was embarrassing.

"What did you do to her?" another outraged four-year-old female voice screeched. Rose Weasley had come around the house to see them standing there, Victoire sporting a tear-streaked face.

"It was Hugo!" Teddy had said quickly.

"Hugo isn't even here!" Rose yelled, outraged that her best friend and cousin was crying. "Come on, Vicky. I'll get you away from mean old Teddy."

The next vivid memory Teddy had of Victoire was the train ride to Hogwarts his second year of school. It was Vicky and Rose's first. Teddy and Ross had already staked out a compartment. They had heard girl's voices outside, and had pressed their ear to the door to hear what they were saying.

"We can sit with Teddy," the first voice said. "I'm sure he won't mind."

"I don't know," the second voice said, sounding uncertain. "Are you sure?"

"Of course I am. Come on!" the first voice had said. The boys had tried their best to get back to their seats in time, but the compartment door burst open the Ross fell into Rose and Teddy fell into Victoire. They all toppled out into the corridor right onto the nice lady pushing the trolley. Her cart had fallen over and everyone had been covered with pasties and pumpkin juice.

"Oh, no, now look what we've done!" Victoire had cried.

"Easy enough!" Teddy had said, jumping to his feet. "_Scourgify!_" The mess had disappeared as quickly as it had begun. The trolley now sat upright, looking as delectable as ever. But the lady that had been pushing it lay on the floor with her eyes closed, unmoving. Curious bystanders had stopped to look, and compartment doors all over the train had begun to open with more curious onlookers peeking out at the raucous.

"Move aside! I'm a Prefect!" a loud male voice sounded through the observers. People jumped back into their compartments, but continued to keep their heads out so that they could see. "What happened here?" a flustered-looking boy named Wallace Baker asked, still pushing students out of the way.

"Well…" Vicky started to speak, but apparently it was too much for her. She burst into tears again.

"It was my fault," Teddy volunteered. He didn't want Vicky, already emotional enough, to get into trouble. "I was opening the door and I fell out. I didn't know that Vicky and Rose were standing out here and we all fell into the trolley woman." Wallace nodded.

"That's an understandable accident," Wallace had replied. "Everyone should go back to their compartments while I notify the driver. He will know what to do. We should have a professor somewhere on board that can help this woman. In the meantime, please stay in your compartments!" He hurried off as students reluctantly retreated to their places.

"Come on. You can sit with us," Teddy had said before the girls could even ask.

Teddy's mind skipped ahead in time to last Christmas. He had spent Christmas with the Weasley family and had received a most unusual gift from Vicky.

When he arrived at the Burrow, he had been greeted with the general enthusiasm of Christmas. Harry and Ginny had given him warm hugs and told him that he really needed to visit more often, even though he spent part of his summers with them every year. Ron and Hermione had also hugged him, saying they had missed him. Bill and Fleur and shaken his hand and told him to expect a wonderful present when it came time.

Molly had fixed an exceptionally wonderful Christmas dinner and they had all stuffed their faces madly until their stomachs could hold no more. Finally, they had moved to the living area where a giant tree glittering with lights stood. The lights were reflecting in the wrapping that was on all the presents. One present, however, was squirming. It was a tightly bound box with holes in it. It wasn't wrapped. It just had a big blue bow stuck to the top of it.

"I think we should give out the live one first, don't you think, Mum?" Bill asked, winking toward Teddy. Teddy knew that it could only mean that the squirmy thing was for him. He hoped it wasn't a toad. He hated frogs of any kind with a passion. He knew the box was too small to contain an owl. "Vicky," Bill had continued. "Why don't you do the honors?"

Vicky walked to the tree and picked up the box. She took it to Teddy and gave it to him blushing all the while. He had not thought anything of her reaction to him until now. She had liked him all the way back then too!

He yanked the bow off the top and opened the box. A white kitten with brown paws and a brown nose tumbled out. Even the tip of his little ears and tail were brown. He mewed pitifully and looked up at Teddy with the bluest eyes he had ever seen. But something was different. There was a small brown spot in one of his eyes. Teddy began to laugh, and the mood lightened. Presents were handed out and everyone told each other thank you. Teddy sat out on the stoop watching his new pet play in the newly fallen snow. The door opened behind him and Vicky came out to sit beside him.

"Do you like him? I thought he was so cute with those random brown spots." She looked at Teddy hopefully.

"Of course I like him," he replied, laughing at the kitten who had managed to become buried in a mound of snow and was frantically digging its way out.

"What are you going to call him?" Vicky asked, breaking the silence that had ensued.

"I think I'm going to call him Mud, because he looks like he's been playing in the mud just enough to get a little dirty. What do you think, Mud?" Teddy called to the kitten. Mud had run and jumped into his lap for a quick petting and hopped back into the snow leaving little kitten footprints behind.

"Teddy, have you ever kissed a girl?" Victoire had asked. The question had come out of nowhere and taken Teddy by surprise.

"Only once," came his reply.

"Did you really? Oh, who was it? Besides, I would have figured you would have done it loads of times."

"Just because I've had loads of girlfriends doesn't mean I go around kissing all of them. The girl has to really mean a lot to me for me to kiss her. And it was Rose. Oh, but don't tell her I told you. She made me swear not to."

"When did you kiss _her_?" Vicky asked incredulously.

"I kissed her back in third year when we dated. It was nothing—the kiss, I mean. It was nothing more than a peck. Rose meant a lot to me, and that's why I broke up with her. I didn't want to hurt her." Victoire frowned at this statement. She had paused, and she looked to be mentally debating something.

Finally, having screwed up her courage, she had asked: "Can I kiss you, Teddy? Just to see how it is, I mean!" she had rushed on. Not waiting for his permission or reply, her lips had touched his briefly. He had been so surprised that he had forgotten to kiss her back. She broke away from him, her face bright red. "Don't ever tell," she had whispered, and run back into the house.

And he never had.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

**Chapter Three**

Teddy woke with a start. The fire in the grate had long since gone out and only a few embers still glowed. The common room was cold, since the fire was gone, and Teddy shivered. He rose to go up to his bed, knowing it would be warmer than trying to go back to sleep here in the common room with no blanket to keep him warm. He yawned and stretched, but turned, hearing a little squeal of surprise from behind him.

"Sorry," came an oddly familiar female whisper, "I didn't know anyone else was down here." Whoever it was stood in the shadows, her face obscured from view. It was pretty dark in the room, so he was sure that she couldn't see him either.

"I'm just going up to bed," he whispered back.

"Teddy? Is that you?" the voice murmured to him.

"Yes. Who's there?" he said, this time in a regular voice.

"Shush! You'll wake the whole dormitory. It is only two in the morning, you know. It's only me, Vicky." She walked closer to him. He had just been thinking about her…or was it dreaming? He had been thinking about her before he fell asleep…about that kiss.

"I was thinking about you earlier," he managed to say, hoping that it wouldn't lead her to believe something radical, like how she had managed to get that he wanted to go out on a date with her from him saying that he needed to talk to her. Well, technically he had wanted to go out on a date with her, but he wasn't going to ask her. At least not yet, but she had beat him to the punch.

"Were you now?" she asked playfully. He didn't want her to think anything bad, so he changed the subject.

"What on earth are you doing up this late?" he asked.

"Shouldn't I be asking you the same question?" Her eyes twinkled up at him in the darkness. He briefly wondered where the light reflected in her eyes was coming from, but didn't dwell on it, and began to answer her.

"Hey, I fell asleep down here!" he protested rather loudly.

"I rather think that neither one of you should be down here at this hour of the night. What are you doing down here, Lupin, Weasley?" McGonagall's sharp voice cut through the warmth they had somehow created between them like a knife.

"I fell asleep down here earlier, Professor," Teddy replied. His hair was turning a dull brown, as it usually did when he was in trouble. As McGonagall came closer, her candle lit their faces. "I was just getting up from the chair to go up to bed when I heard someone over there. We realized who the other was and I was just telling her that I fell asleep in front of the fire and I was going up to bed and I would see her in the morning when you showed up. Honestly, Professor, that's really all that happened!" Teddy insisted. Professor McGonagall gave Teddy a scrutinizing look. Teddy's record for sneaking around at night wasn't exactly spotless. Of course, neither was Victoire's. She had a bad habit of sneaking around with him and Ross and Rose. She and Rose had taken to letting them sneak around on their own lately, though, because Victoire's mum and dad had told her that if she stepped out of line one more time, she was coming straight home to be home-schooled. The last thing she wanted was to be away from Hogwarts and most of all, Teddy, so she had stayed away from his jaunts in the dark.

"Well, being in the common room doesn't denote detention, anyway, Lupin, as I am sure that is what you are trying to avoid. And you, Ms. Weasley, have been warned by your parents. I'm shocked at the both of you." She was eyeing them as Victoire stepped out from behind Teddy.

"Professor, I couldn't sleep, because it's nearing the full moon. I'm sure Teddy has the same feelings inside, like you're not yourself. You can't eat right or sleep well, because you feel so anxious and stressed. I know neither of us are full-fledged werewolves, but, Professor; there is still a bit of the condition we have to deal with. Surely you understand?" Victoire pleaded with all her might. They wouldn't get detention, but it would still soil the reputation that they had worked hard to get with McGonagall over the past few months. Teddy had been good lately as well. Ross was always asking to borrow the cloak, but Teddy wouldn't even let him have it. He had hidden away the Marauder's Map and only used it during the day when he was supposed to be on the grounds anyway.

McGonagall still had a bit of disbelief in her eyes, but she finally nodded. "Up to bed with the both of you, then," she said reluctantly.

***

Teddy rolled out of bed the next morning. He didn't bother to comb his mussed hair. He only changed the color. He decided that he wanted a nice dark brown streaked with bright neon green. Since it was still the weekend, he slipped on his jeans and a black sweatshirt with some Muggle logo on it in the same green as his hair. He had bought it in the new store that had been built in Diagon Alley. It was sort of a novelty shop, because the wizards and witches could buy Muggle merchandise, such as Muggle clothing, books, toys, etc. But while he was contemplating on having a fun day hanging out with Victoire, she was having her own set of problems.

Victoire was wondering how in the world she was going to tell Rose that she and Teddy were dating. Rose still had feelings for Teddy even though she was dating Ross. She had confided in Victoire and told her that she liked Ross and all, but she would take Teddy back in a heartbeat if he would only ask her. That was the real reason for her lack of sleep the night before, although the full moon drawing near did cause her to be a bit anxious. She was sitting in the window looking outside. She glanced over at Rose, who was sleeping peacefully. Victoire just knew that she would be so angry. In fact, Victoire knew for a fact that even though Rose liked Ross, she was sort of using him to make Teddy jealous, and even though it hadn't worked, Victoire had supported him up until now. But now, she was dating Teddy. Her mind drifted back in time as she sat looking out over the grounds.

She walked outside after giving Teddy his kitten which he named Mud. They had chatted about what his name would be, and she had looked at him in a way in which she had never seen him before. His eyes were reflecting the moonlight and his cheeks were red with the cold. His lips were indescribable. She had wanted to kiss him, but had not known how. She had never kissed anyone before. So she had asked him if she could and then done it without waiting for him to say yes or no. She had never told anyone about that night.

"Vicky? Are you coming to breakfast or not?" Rose's voice broke through Victoire's thoughts, causing her to nearly fall out of the window.

"You scared me, Rose!"

"I'm sorry. Come on. I heard we were having pancakes this morning." Victoire followed Rose down to the common room where Ross and Teddy stood waiting. Ross was still gaping, apparently from something Teddy had said. As they headed to the portrait hole, Ross and Teddy continued a conversation that had stopped when the girls had appeared.

"You're serious? You're really not kidding?" Ross was saying.

"No way would I lie to you about something that awesome!" Teddy turned and winked at Victoire. She blushed.

"Um, Vicky, what are they talking about?" Rose asked, a confused look crossing her face.

"Er—I don't know," Vicky lied, not so smoothly.

"Yes, you do. You're lying. Why would Teddy wink at you? You know what's going on. Tell me! Don't keep it a secret! Please?" Rose was whining, which usually got her her way.

"Go ahead and tell her, Vicky. She's going to know anyway. Besides, she is our friend. She should know before this gets around the rest of the school." Teddy was encouraging her, but he didn't realize what was at stake. Victoire bit her lip as she turned toward Rose. They were on the third floor waiting for the staircase to come around so they could go down.

"Well, Teddy and I are together." The staircase returned and they took the first step.

"Like you're dating?" Rose asked incredulously but at the same time unsure of what she had just heard.

"Yes, we're dating. He sort of asked me out last night. Well, I assumed that was what he wanted to talk to me about, and I guess it was, but—"

"I DON'T CARE HOW IT HAPPENED! HOW COULD YOU?" Rose screeched, tears filling her eyes. She stormed away from them and the entrance to the Great Hall. Victoire turned her tortured eyes to Teddy. He wasn't sure what had just happened and said as much. Ross stated that he didn't care and took off to find her.

"I'll be she went to Myrtle's bathroom. That's where her mother always went to cry!" Teddy called after him. "Now, Vicky, what is going on? Why didn't you want to tell Rose that we were dating?"

"Oh, Teddy, I don't know how to tell you this!" Vicky sobbed into his shoulder. He looped his arm through hers and wiped her tears away with his other hand. He began steering her into the Great Hall. Students were already eating and conversation was buzzing loudly around them.

"You can tell me anything. You know that, Vicky," Teddy urged. Vicky nodded as they sat down side by side. He took her hand in his and rubbed it absently, trying to comfort her. He didn't understand.

"Rose is mad at me," she said.

"Yeah, I gathered that. Why is she mad at you? I mean, what could she possibly have to be mad about? Now we're all kind of one big happy family, in a way." Teddy smiled at her, and she returned it, although hers was watery.

"She's mad," Victoire said, sniffling, "because she has been dating Ross all this time to make you jealous. I mean, she likes Ross just fine, but she still likes you. She has told me that she wants you back, but doesn't know how to break it to you or Ross. Oh please don't tell Ross. It will crush him."

"He's probably finding out right now," Teddy replied grimly. "I mean, how else is she going to explain her reaction to finding out that you and I are together?" Ross came walking up behind them just at that moment. Rose wasn't anywhere to be seen.

"She's just told me everything," Ross said on a sigh, sinking down beside Teddy. He ran a hand through his hair, making it stand on end. "We talked a little, and I think we're going to try to work it out. But she's still really mad at you, Victoire."

"Teddy, she's my best friend. What am I going to do?"

"It's not your fault, Vicky," he said consolingly.

"Yeah, and it's not yours either, Teddy," Ross said. "Or mine. It's all about what is going on in Rose's mind, I guess, so it's no one's fault but hers. I just don't know what I'm going to do if she breaks up with me. You're lucky, Teddy."

"How is that?" Teddy asked.

"Well, besides having a great girlfriend, who is someone you've wanted to date for a long time, you don't have parents who are always—" Ross stopped short, realizing what he had just said. Teddy turned his face away, but there was no pretending. The statement had hurt him.

"At least you have parents," Teddy muttered. He rose and started walking away.

"I was only going to say parents that are always in your business. I didn't mean it like that," Ross insisted to Victoire. She shrugged and rose to follow him. Neither of them had eaten a bite. Ross was left sitting alone. Rose was still crying in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.

"Teddy!" Victoire called after him. She caught up to him. "Hey, he didn't mean anything by it."

"Whatever. I'm going out to fly around the Quidditch pitch. I'll catch up with you later." Teddy slammed the door in the entrance hall leaving Victoire wondering what she was going to do with herself for the rest of the day other than worry about her friends. It seemed now that everyone was mad, and she was just upset. She was beginning to think that she should never have gotten out of bed that morning.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

**Chapter Four**

It had been two weeks since the disaster with Rose. She had confided in Victoire that now, no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't continue to be with Ross. She just didn't have feelings for him in that way. Of course, that was before she decided to quit speaking to Vicky. Their friendly foursome was quickly falling apart. It seemed now that only Teddy, Ross, and Victoire hung out and Ross was being seen less and less. He was spending more and more time over in a corner doing homework, which was unlike him. Teddy thought he was just trying to keep himself from thinking of Rose since their little break-up scene in the entrance hall.

It had been about two days since Rose's outburst at finding out about Teddy and Vicky dating. Ross had come to breakfast late, looking pretty down. He had walked into the Great Hall, and sat down with Teddy and Vicky who were laughing.

"Hey, guys," he said.

"Hey," Vicky replied. "How are things with Rose?" she had asked.

"Not so good, I don't think. She's been acting weird lately."

"Should I tell him, Teddy?" she had whispered to him, referring to what Rose had told her about feeling that it would never work. He nodded.

"Ross, Rose told me that it's not going to work out. I think she is planning to tell you today."

"Not if I beat her to it." Ross had walked out to the entrance hall. Teddy and Vicky had rushed out when they heard yelling.

"…you tell Vicky that you don't think it's going to work out? Why did you ever go out with me in the first place? I really liked you! You just wanted to get with Teddy. Why didn't you just tell him? I don't have time for silly games!"

"Well, if you weren't so blind, you would have seen that I wanted to be with Teddy in the first place and broken up with me a long time ago. I've been trying to make it obvious. Vicky dating him just gave me a reason to go ahead and break it off. I don't want either of you anyway." Rose had stormed off and that had been the last the Ross or Teddy had seen of her. Since Vicky shared a room and classes with her, she saw her, but Rose wasn't speaking to Vicky. She had decided to cut herself off from all of them. Ross was doing the same.

Vicky rose from the squashy armchair in the common room she had been sitting in and walked to the window. She watched as twilight set in over the Hogwarts grounds. Most of the other students would be returning from the Quidditch game soon. She had opted not to go, since it wasn't a game Teddy was playing in. It was Hufflepuff versus Slytherin, and she had no desire to see Scorpius Malfoy knock people off their brooms. He wasn't as mean as his father Draco was in his time, but he still enjoyed playing dirty.

Meanwhile, Teddy was sitting in the stands of the Quidditch pitch, completely distracted from the game. Rose was rooting for Scorpius, her newfound boyfriend. Ross was sitting beside him with his arms crossed across his chest. His brow was furrowed.

"You know," he commented to Teddy, "you'd think that she wants us to lose to Slytherin the way she is cheering them on." Teddy just grunted in reply. He couldn't stand that his group of friends was falling apart. He was losing everyone, just like he did with his parents. He was scarcely born and then they died fighting Voldemort. Now Ross was upset about Rose and spent little time with him anymore. Rose had moved on to Scorpius, although Teddy suspected a ruse of some sort. The next thing he knew he would lose Vicky, too. He always lost the people he loved the most, he though. He resolved that he wouldn't let that happen. He would move on from Vicky before she could move on from him.

"Ross!" he called over the noise of students cheering on Hufflepuff. "I'm heading back to the castle. I'll catch up with you later!" Ross just nodded and went on cheering. Rose was sitting over on the other side with most of the Slytherins. He sighed, and left. The noise from the Quidditch pitch got duller as he walked up the hill toward the school. He sank onto one of the benches in one of the four courtyards and put his head in his hands. Tears began leaking out of the corners of his eyes. He didn't really want to break up with Vicky. He liked her so much. Maybe he would let the relationship continue for a while longer.

"No!" he yelled through his tears to himself. His hair had turned a deep red, signifying his anger. His uncontrollable emotions often leaked into his ability to change his appearance and made things happen that he didn't mean to, like his hair changing red when he was angry. He knew she was working on some potions homework up in the common room.

He had to break up with her before she had the opportunity to do it to him. Suddenly, his more sensible side kicked in. He thought to himself out loud. "Wait a minute. Shouldn't I wait and maybe talk to her a bit before I jump to the conclusion that she is going to break up with me?" But a voice in his head told him that she would never tell him she was going to do it until it actually happened. He still decided to talk to her, though, because he wanted so badly to stay with her. He got up and wiped his eyes with his sleeve. His hair was slowly turning a silver gray—his worrying hair. He didn't realize it until a portrait pointed it out as he was going up the stairs to the dormitories.

"Put up your dukes, you black-bellied varmint!" Sir Cadogan cried as Teddy drew closer.

"Oh, shut up," Teddy said grumpily.

"Oh, it's you, young Ted Lupin! What is the matter with your hair?" he called after Teddy.

"What do you mean?" Teddy asked, turning back to Sir Cadogan's portrait.

"It's just that you are a bit young to be going gray, aren't you?" Sir Cadogan winked. Teddy continued walking with no response, but changed his hair color to a rich chestnut brown. Vicky couldn't know that anything was wrong.

Teddy entered the common room as quietly as possible. Vicky was sitting in the window and didn't look toward him. Perhaps she hadn't heard him and he could sleep on this decision he was going to have to make. He began stealthily making his way toward the staircase leading up to the boy's dormitory. Suddenly, Vicky stood up.

"Teddy, I know that's you," she said without turning.

"How did you do that?" he asked, knowing that she couldn't read minds.

"I saw your reflection in the window. Weren't you going to speak to me?" she asked, turning to face him, one eyebrow raised suspiciously.

"Well…I…" Teddy trailed off, not knowing what to say. He wasn't going to speak to her if he could get away with it, but now she was waiting for him to say something and he wasn't prepared.

"You were going to go upstairs and go to sleep without talking to me at all, weren't you?" she asked, walking toward him. Her voice remained calm, but he could see emotion building on her face and in her eyes.

"I…um…I was—"

"Save it, Teddy. I don't want to hear a lie. What is wrong with you? You've been acting weird for the last few days." She was standing nearly toe-to-toe with him now. He felt he was sinking under her scrutinizing gaze.

"All right, all right! You don't have to pressure me!" he cried.

"I wasn't pressuring you!" Vicky replied loudly. "I only asked you a couple of questions. You're acting really suspicious, Teddy. Is there something I don't know about?"

"Look, I'm just having a lot of feelings right now, all right? I'm dealing with a lot. What Ross said about my parents the other day—I can't get it out of my head. You know, I really don't want to talk about this right now. I have loads of homework and I need to get some sleep. Can't we talk tomorrow?" He almost sounded whiny.

"No, Teddy, you're going to talk about this right now. I understand that you are dealing with a lot, but none of it is my fault! You can't take it out on me!"

"I can deal with this on my own, Victoire. I don't need your help or your advice. So I don't need to tell you about it. Get off my back!" he yelled. The portrait opened and Gryffindors began pouring in, grumbling about the Slytherin victory, but neither of them notice.

Vicky lost her cool. "If you're not going to talk to me about what's bothering you so much, then I don't think we need to be together!" she yelled back at him. The Gryffindors fell silent, realizing what they had walked in on.

"Fine!" he yelled back, his hair a violent shade of red, matching the color of his face. "I never wanted to be with you anyway!" As soon as it had left his mouth, he knew it had been a mistake as well as a lie. Her hand flew toward his face and hit it with a resounding "SMACK!" before he had time to duck. When he actually looked at her, her eyes were filled with hurt and tears were streaming down her cheeks. The color was high on her face.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, seeing the anger on his face.

"Me too," he whispered back.

"I think we should take a break," she said in a still barely audible voice.

"Okay," he replied sitting down on the bottom step. "Why don't I go snitch us some pumpkin juice from the kitchen?"

"I didn't mean a break from fighting," she muttered, her voice filled with emotion.

"You didn't mean…" Teddy trailed off.

"From us," she finished for him, "until you figure things out?"

"No!" he cried, realizing what his uncalled-for feelings had caused.

"Yes," she said with a finality that said it all. It was over, at least for now. She turned, wiping her eyes, and headed up the stairs to the girl's dormitory. He didn't attempt to follow. He turned and went up to his dorm as well.

"What is going on? Get out of the way!" Rose and Ross pushed a bunch of first-years out of the way who were blocking the portrait hole. They arrived just in time to see Vicky slap Teddy. When the rest of the scene had unfolded and both Teddy and Vicky headed to their respective rooms, Ross and Rose just looked at each other. They knew they had to make amends with their friends and with each other.

"I'm sorry, Ross," Rose said. "I want us to be friends again. I know I can't change what I did and I know what I did was wrong. Can you ever forgive me?"

"Yeah," Ross said smiling. "I thought you would never ask!"

"We'd better go take care of them," Rose said.

"Yeah, since it's probably our fault most of it happened anyway," Ross replied. They hugged and headed up the opposite staircases.

Rose burst into their room. Vicky was laying face-down on her bed sobbing her eyes out. Rose ran over to the bed and pulled her into a sitting position. Vicky took one look at her and started crying even harder. Rose just pulled her into her arms and let her cry.

"Why are you doing this?" Vicky sobbed into Rose's shoulder.

"Because that's what friends do," Rose replied, letting her friend cry it out.

Meanwhile, Ross went upstairs to see about Teddy. He had never seen Teddy be very emotional. Usually when Teddy got upset, he just left the room to be alone. But for the first time, Ross saw Teddy cry.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

**Chapter Five**

Teddy sat sulking in the Gryffindor common room all alone. It was nearly four in the morning and he had not gotten a wink of sleep. He had attempted to go to sleep after his fight with Victoire, but it had been hopeless. Around midnight, after all of his roommates had gone to sleep, he had walked down to the common room. It was so dark that Teddy could barely see his own hand in front of his face. He had stumbled over to an armchair and fallen into it. Thoughts kept swirling around in his head. He couldn't believe what he had done. He had lost the best thing that ever happened to him, and he didn't know what to do, for once. He was usually the first to have ideas on how to fix things between him and a girl, but for the first time in his life, he was unsure where to even begin.

As he had been sitting in the dark for nearly four hours, his eyes had adjusted to the darkness. He got up and began to pace back and forth in front of the dim fire grate. A slight sliver of moonlight shone through the window briefly when the clouds moved aside. Suddenly, frightening Teddy, the portrait hole opened unexpectedly. A wand was lit brightly and was approaching him rapidly. He grimaced before Professor McGonagall even got to him. He knew that she frowned upon students not being in their beds at night, even if they weren't sleeping. But as the wand's light got closer, he noticed that there was no body. There was only a floating wand in a hand. Someone was wearing his invisibility cloak. Then he remembered. Victoire had last had it. He frowned as his heart began beating in double-time. He heard her sniffle under the cloak, and he turned his back so that she couldn't see his tears. He hated to cry, or show any kind of emotion whatsoever, especially in front of the girl he had just pretty much broken up with.

"Teddy," he heard her say stiffly as a rustling noise told him she was taking off the cloak. "I believe this is yours. Nox." She extinguished her wand. He turned around, because in the darkness, she couldn't see the hurt in his eyes. She was standing closer than he had thought she was, and her presence was intoxicating. He reached out to take the cloak and his fingers grazed hers and covered them. He didn't let go. She didn't either. For a moment, he felt hope leaping in his chest. His heart was beating even faster than it had before. Then he just couldn't help himself. He pulled her to him in a crushing embrace, and kissed her deeply.

When he pulled away, he could feel the tension between them growing like the shadow of a tree grew in the late afternoon sun. "You can't just fix things with a kiss, Teddy," she said quietly, her voice filled with emotion. "I mean, I love you. I do. But first, I think we need to get the basics of a relationship down. I mean, you have to learn to talk to me without getting mad or whatever when I ask what's wrong. I can tell when something is wrong, too, Teddy. I'm not blind. That's why I think we need a break. We need time to rethink everything. And kissing just takes away all rational thought. That's not what we need right now."

"I know you're right," he said on a sigh. She turned to go. "Victoire," he whispered every emotion he was feeling in that one word. She turned back, realizing he still held her hand in his. She pulled him into an embrace.

"I'll be here when you're ready," she whispered in his ear before turning away again. This time he let her go. He was learning a hard lesson. He realized at that moment that sometimes you have to let go of the things you love most. If they come back, then they're yours.

The days following their break-up dragged on. Teddy was listless and barely listened in class. His homework was getting worse, and thus were his grades. Nearly four weeks had passed, and he was still feeling awful. Every time he saw Victoire, she nodded politely, but their times of hanging out and spending any kind of quality time were over. Ross and Teddy hung out and Rose stayed with Victoire like a constant shadow. And a new person was accompanying Rose a lot more than usual. Scorpius Malfoy had taken to spending more and more time with Rose. Ross just shrugged whenever it was mentioned. He told Teddy that he would rather her be happy with Scorpius than be unhappy with him.

It was dinner time in the Great Hall, and Teddy and Ross were sitting together eating silently. They had just had a tense conversation about Victoire. Teddy had not wanted to talk about it, but Ross had insisted that it would be good for him. The conversation had been short, but had left Teddy feeling more down in the dumps than he had before. He was just finishing his treacle tart when he looked down toward the end of the table. Victoire sat with Rose and Scorpius and another Gryffindor sixth year boy that he didn't know. She was laughing at something the boy had said, and had her hand on his arm. He frowned.

"What is it?" Ross asked through a mouthful of pudding, seeing the look on Teddy's face. Teddy jerked his head toward Victoire's laughing face. "Oh, that's just Ian Paxton," Ross said. "He has a twin sister, but she's in Ravenclaw. Her name is Anne. From what I hear, she's really pretty." Teddy took a long look at Ian. He had shaggy dark hair and bright hazel eyes. Suddenly, a girl came over and sat beside him. The resemblance was striking. Her long, dark hair fell over her shoulder, her hazel eyes sparkling. He knew that had to be Anne. "That's her," Ross said around more pudding, confirming Teddy's thoughts.

"She is pretty," Teddy said. "She isn't anything compared to Victoire, but if I have to do it to get her back, I will."

"Uh, Teddy, what in the world are you talking about, man?" Ross asked, this time around a mouthful of treacle tart and ice cream.

"You'll see," Teddy muttered as he got up and made his way toward the laughing group. He forced a smile to his face so that his newly realized plan would work correctly. He pretended to be making his way out of the Great Hall. Since Anne was now standing behind Ian, it was going to be easier than he thought at first. Right before he got to Anne, he prepared to trip and fall. He fell with a loud "oof" right behind her feet.

"Oh!" she exclaimed. "I am so sorry! Can I help you up?" He rolled toward her and looked up gratefully at her outstretched hand. The fall hadn't felt as good as he was expecting. "Did you trip over my foot?" she asked with a concerned look furrowing her brow.

"Yeah," he said, "but it's all right." He smiled at her while looking into those sparkling hazel eyes. He wished he could see Victoire's reaction, but if he looked, she would know it was a ploy. Ross would have to tell him about it later. "So, I don't think we've met before, have we?" he asked easily. This was a lot less difficult than he thought it would be.

"No, I don't believe we have," she replied, down casting her eyes, a pink tinge of blush creeping up her cheeks.

"Well, I'm Teddy Lupin. Half-werewolf, but don't let that scare you away. Don't worry, because I don't actually turn into a wolf. I just get really antsy around the full moon. What might your name be?" He smiled at her reassuringly.

"I'm Anne Paxton. Oh, and this is my brother Ian. We're twins you know." Teddy nodded as if this was common knowledge.

"What a pretty name for a pretty girl. Might I escort you to your common room? Or were you leaving yet? I wouldn't want to be rude."

"Oh, yes, I would like that. I was just reminding Ian about some Potions homework. We have to write a parchment by Friday on how the making of Potions has affected life as we know it today. It's pretty open-ended, but I was hoping we could corroborate on some ideas later."

"Not smart," Teddy replied. "Professor Wicket will know, trust me. Ross and I tried to do that last year, and he burned our parchments in front of us and told us that we had to write twice as much with no help. And we had to do it in detention with him. But if you want, I can help you come up with some ideas for it."

"Oh that would be wonderful! Let's walk to my common room and we can talk about it. Ian, I'm sorry. I guess you'll have to find you a seventh year to help you," she said with a smile.

"It's all right. I'm used you always getting the good stuff." Ian turned back to the group as Teddy and Anne walked off, heads together.

Victoire saw Teddy from the moment he walked into the Great Hall. She watched as he and Ross had a seemingly heated discussion. Then Ian had come to sit with her and made her momentarily forget her problems with Teddy Lupin. He had told a great joke and she had finally laughed for the first time in days. When she saw Teddy get up and come toward the group, her heart had leapt in her chest with hope that he was ready to reconcile things with her. She was only waiting on him to say the word, and she would take him back in a heartbeat. She seriously regretted telling him that she wanted to take a break. She hadn't thought that it would go on for this long. She really had thought that Teddy would have begged her to take him back by now. And she would have said that she needed some time. And she would have seen him that next day and told him she was ready. But things had not worked out the way she had wanted them to. Anne, Ian's sister, had come over to ask him about Potions homework. But Teddy stood and drew her attention away from anything Ian and Anne were saying. She had thought that this was the moment, but instead he fell. She was almost tempted to laugh, but she decided she should wait and see if he was all right before she did so. She was on the verge of jumping out of her seat to see if he was all right when Anne stepped to him and offered him her hand. As they began talking about the Potions homework, she felt a feeling rising in her chest that she had never felt before. She was seeing red and her blood was boiling by the time he offered to escort her back to her common room.

As soon as Teddy and Anne exited the Great Hall, she jumped up muttering that she had to go do homework. Rose stood too, but the look Victoire shot her made Rose sit right back down. This was a time that Victoire wanted to be alone. But Victoire wasn't going to do homework. She had other plans. She ran up to the Gryffindor common room as quickly as she could. She had to get into Teddy's room, steal the invisibility cloak, get back to where Teddy and Anne were, listen in until Teddy dropped her off, and get the cloak back before Teddy got back. She didn't think that anyone would be in Teddy's room. But Ross was.

"Hey, Ross," she said breathlessly, opening Teddy's trunk.

"Whoa, now, wait a minute. What are you doing?"

"Borrowing Teddy's cloak to spy on him," she replied, sticking her wand in her back pocket, so she would have both hands to dig.

"Uh, I can't let you do that. I'm really sorry." Ross grabbed her arm trying to pull her away. But she gripped the side of the trunk with all her might. Finally she let go, causing him to fall hard to the side. She jumped back up and retrieved the cloak from the trunk. She shut it and made for the door, but Ross caught her foot. She fell and hit her chin on the floor.

"Ouch!" she squealed. She stood and turned toward Ross. Not even thinking about her ability to use magic, she pulled her fist back as far as it would go and gave him a hard upper right cut to the jaw. He fell backwards, leaving her free to throw the cloak over herself and run down the stairs. "Sorry!" she called as she sprinted away.

She only had to go to the third floor stairs to see them. She listened to their talk, but they were talking too quietly. She decided she was going to have to get a little closer. She got right up behind them.

"…so all you have to do is say that you think that Potion making is the most important art and make up some reasons why and how it has affected you personally and he will love it. He just wants to think that his class is the best."

"Wow, Teddy, you really know your stuff. So I heard some stuff about you and Victoire. What's going on there?" Anne asked. Victoire's heart seemed to stop for a moment, and when it resumed, she could swear that the whole school could hear it. "I don't mean to pry," Anne continued. Victoire almost said "Oh yes you do!" but managed to hold her tongue. Suddenly, a big group of Ravenclaw first years came running up the stairs causing Victoire to have to back up for five minutes. She missed the rest of the conversation.

"Well…uh…we sort of broke up," Teddy said awkwardly.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! What happened?" Anne asked, her brow furrowing together just like it had when Teddy had fallen in the Great Hall.

"I was having a hard time in my life…you know, a rough spot."

"Oh yes, we all have those!" Anne said, nodding.

"Yeah well, I told her I didn't want to be with her, but I didn't mean it. But she decided I was right. She said we should take a break. I can't get her off my mind, but she hasn't said anything to me since it all happened. I don't know what to do." He frowned as they came to the top of the fifth floor staircase.

"Oh, I can make you forget her," Anne said. She pushed Teddy up against the wall and pressed her lips to his.

Victoire finally was able to make her way up the fourth floor staircase. Anne and Teddy were out of sight. She had to run and caught up with them just in time to see Anne plant one big one on Teddy. That was all she could take. She yanked the cloak off, her face redder than a tomato.

"TEDDY LUPIN! HOW COULD YOU?!"


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

**Chapter Six**

All Victoire wanted to do at that moment was to run straight back to the Gryffindor Common Room, but it was as if she could not stop herself from moving forward toward Anne Paxton. She gave Teddy a look that said she would talk to him later. Before she had even given a thought to what she was doing, her hand reeled back all on its own and connected hard with the side of Anne's face. It felt so liberating, that she felt her other hand follow suit. The adrenaline was pumping through her so hard she was shaking with it and the rage at seeing another girl kissing _her_ Teddy. Her fists balled at her sides and she honestly tried to constrain them, but they were flying before she could do anything about it. Teddy stood and watched in absolute awe as Victoire hit Anne again and again. When Anne fell to the ground, Victoire continued to pummel her. Teddy knew that he should go and get a professor, but he didn't want to get Victoire into trouble any sooner than possible, and his feet were rooted to the spot anyway.

"What on earth is going on here?" Professor Flitwick, head of Ravenclaw, asked coming upon the two girls. Anne had begun to fight back a bit at this point, pulling Victoire's hair. The harder Anne pulled, the more Victoire hit her. Professor Flitwick, not having the physical abilities to pull the girls apart, pulled his wand out and cast a charm to separate them. Anne's face was beginning to swell and purple. Victoire's knuckles were cut, bleeding, and bruised. Both girls' hair was quite messed up and both were breathing heavily.

"Why is it," Flitwick asked, turning to Teddy, "that I always find you in the midst of trouble?"

"It wasn't his fault!" Victoire exclaimed breathlessly. "It was mine. I followed them and saw Anne kissing him. I lost my temper."

"Well, Ms. Weasley, I am going to take both of you to the hospital wing to get cleaned up, and I will deal with Anne. I will send Professor McGonagall directly to deal with you if Mr. Lupin will be so kind as to fetch her so as to redeem himself from this situation." Victoire's eyes pleaded with him, but he nodded, and turned to go back down the stairs.

An hour later, Teddy stood just outside the door to the hospital wing, safely covered under the invisibility cloak. He had sneaked back up to the Ravenclaw entrance to nick it and ran all the way back to the hospital wing. Anne had already been released to return to her dormitory. Victoire had as well, but McGonagall was still talking to her. As Anne had come out looking fairly pleased with herself, he was sure she had not gotten more than a detention for fighting, since Victoire had even admitted that she had started the fight. He pulled out one of George's extendable ears and wedged it under the door frame.

"Well, Ms. Weasley, what do you have to say for yourself?" McGonagall asked in a tense voice.

"It was my fault, Professor. I realize that. I will take whatever punishment you see fit to give me. I am taking full responsibility for my actions. I am very sorry, Professor." Tears filled her eyes, but not because of a punishment she was to be dealt. She was crying because her Teddy did not love her anymore. He had obviously moved on to someone else. "Professor, may I confide in you? I know it will make no difference regarding my punishment, but I want you to understand why it happened."

"Of course you may. Just let me send an owl to your parents. I'm sorry to say that you are suspended from Hogwarts until next year. I cannot have students who are a threat to other students. That will give your parents ample time to make a decision as to what is to be done with you. I'll be back after I go to the owlery. Your things are already packed, compliments of the House Elves." Victoire nodded numbly. When Professor McGonagall had left, Teddy went in the door, still under the cloak. Her eyes were red, her face tear-stained. A fresh bout of tears lingered on her eyelashes, threatening to fall. He pulled the cloak off, a concerned look on his face. He hated to see her cry more than anything in the world.

"What are you doing here?" she asked without even looking up.

"I came to say that I'm sorry. I didn't think they would suspend you. I would take the fall for you if I could. You know that."

"It's too late for sorry, Teddy. What you did is unforgivable!"

"What did I do?" he asked, honestly confused.

"You kissed Anne! You could have at least told me we were over. I've waited for weeks to have you back. All you had to do was say the word and I would have said yes. But instead, you flirt with Anne right in front of me, and then kiss her for everyone to see. My God, you could have at least been discreet about it or just come out and told me. I thought you loved me, but now I see that you are not truly capable of loving anyone." The tears that had been threatening now coursed down her cheeks. She turned her face away again.

"But you don't understand, Victoire. I didn't kiss her. She kissed me!"

"Oh, I'm sure you didn't want it!" she exclaimed sarcastically. "Teddy, if you want her, have her. Because you surely don't have me anymore. It's not going to matter now, is it? I'm suspended. You won't see me until summer holidays. And by then, I'm sure you will have my entire family believing your pathetic side of the story. I can just hear it now. 'Oh, poor Teddy. Victoire left him because another girl liked him and all he wanted was to have her back.' Why don't you just face it, Teddy? You're scared. I don't know why you're scared, but you are. You're afraid, I guess, that everyone you love is going to up and leave you. So instead of letting that happen, you leave them and hurt them in the process. Is that it? You just wanted to hurt me because you had been hurt? Well, I'm just so sorry. Go ahead and hurt Anne, too. Poor girl won't know what hit her." She laughed at her own pun, but it wasn't heartfelt. "I think you should leave now, Teddy, before you upset me even more. If it's all the same to you, I don't think I should see you during the summer holidays either. You'll be gone from here when I return to Hogwarts, so I really don't ever _have_ to see you again."

"Are you so eager to throw what we had away?" Teddy asked. His heart was aching like it never had before. Before, he thought he had a chance of winning her back. But now, he saw no future for them. She didn't want to see him again. How could he make her see that he didn't want Anne, or anyone else for that matter? He should never have tried to make her jealous. That was stupid. He should have just asked to talk to her and told her how he felt. Now his stupidity was costing him the best thing he ever had. "Please, Victoire, while you're gone, just think about it. You know where to find me." Without another word, he slipped on the cloak and left.

She wanted to believe him so badly. Not one minute after he had left, though, Professor McGonagall returned with her parents. She poured out the whole story, including what had just happened. She knew it would probably only make things worse, but she also knew that they had to know why in the world she was beating the holy hell out of another student. She was crying steadily by the end of the whole story.

"Ah, young love," Fleur said, taking Victoire into her arms. "We understand your decision to suspend her. We will finish schooling her for the year as long as she eez allowed to return here to take her O.W.L.S. And that Skeeter woman eez not to catch wind of these events, no?" McGonagall nodded. Bill slid an arm around Victoire's shoulder.

"May we have a moment in private?" Bill asked. McGonagall nodded again.

"Feel free to leave whenever. Keep in contact with me about her examinations. We will set it up." With that, McGonagall left the hospital wing to return to her other duties.

"Victoire," Bill said, turning her to face him. "I am going to lay down the rules here and now before we even get home. I think that it is a good idea that you and Teddy not have any contact until the summer holidays. It would only make things worse. I'm not saying anything was your fault other than hitting this Anne Paxton girl, but I know how men's minds work. He needs time. He will write to you when the time is right for him."

"But Daddy, he wouldn't even talk to me when we were in the same room together. Why would he write?" she asked tearfully.

"That's just the way it is going to have to be. I promise that if he writes, we will give you his letters. But you are not to write to him otherwise. Perhaps he will explain himself. It's only another month before summer. You are not to go out to any of your friends' houses. In fact, you are not to go anywhere unless accompanied by myself or your mother. You will do your schoolwork during the day and help your mother at night. Otherwise, you are to be in your room. Understood?" Victoire nodded. She understood that she was practically grounded. This was not going to be a fun month. She would miss Rose, but maybe her mother would let her go and stay with her Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron for a while during the month. This would alleviate the boredom of being grounded, but she would still be under adult supervision.

Suddenly, the door to the hospital wing burst open and Rose and Ross stood on the other side, Teddy standing sheepishly behind them. He was looking at Victoire apologetically, as if to say, "I'm sorry, but I had to tell them and they insisted on running up here before you left!" She gave him a cold look and turned to Rose to accept her embrace.

"Oh, Vicky, I'm so sorry! I wish you weren't expelled! Promise that you'll write every day!"

"If Mum will let me, I will. She told me that I'm not allowed to write Teddy because of all this. Find out as much as you can from him and write me and tell me what really happened. I don't know if he really liked Anne or not! I want to know if he still likes me. Not that I would take him back even if he did. I think that he is such a liar!"

"Vicky, you know that you would take him back if he asked you," Rose replied with a knowing look on her face.

"No, I would not!" Vicky protested. "I don't want to be suspended. It's going to be so boring."

"Hey, it's only for a month," Teddy chimed in. Vicky simply ignored him and hugged Rose one last time before her mother took her by the arm and pulled her toward the exit.

The walk to Hogsmeade was silent and rather somber. Her parents knew that she had done wrong, but understood why she had done it. Her punishment was settled, but she still felt awkward with them. She felt she had no one that she could talk honestly about with about her problems. Her mother put her arm around her to comfort her, and it made her feel a bit better about things. Her father looked at her with caring eyes.

"Victoire, I think you need to know that we still love you, and we are not mad at you. We are just disappointed. We will help you finish this year at school, but you will need to think long and hard about wanting to return to Hogwarts next year. Don't think that they will take you back lightheartedly. They will have their eyes on you at all times. You will be more closely watched than any other student in that school. And Teddy won't be there to get you out of the messes you make."

Teddy…Victoire's thoughts wandered to him. She missed him terribly already. There was an insatiable ache forming in her chest. She felt tears well in her eyes as she realized the gravity of what had taken place. She may very well never recover what little relationship she and Teddy had ever had together. She swiped at her face with the back of her hand just as she and her parents Disapparated from Hogsmeade.

It had been two weeks since Victoire's suspension. Her mother had finally consented to her spending a day or two at her Aunt Hermione's and Uncle Ron's. Victoire had taken to staring out the window constantly and not eating for days upon end. Her mother had tried everything, but the light seemed to have gone out of her. Hermione had tried desperately to cheer her up in the few hours she had been there, but it seemed hopeless and she had to leave for work. She kissed Victoire on the cheek and told her that Ron would be home soon.

Victoire watched her Aunt Hermione Disapparate, and turned resignedly back to the window. She saw a speck in the distant sky flying toward Ron and Hermione's house. She sat up straighter, because she realized it was an owl. She breathed a silent prayer that the letter it bore was for her. Her anticipation was about to kill her by the time the owl lit on the windowsill of the already-open window beside Victoire's hand. She had already fetched it a treat and she practically snatched the letter off of its leg. It squawked in protest but was satisfied by the treat. Sure enough, it was a letter from Hogwarts, but it wasn't from Rose. Her heart pounded in her chest as she opened it quickly. She couldn't breathe as she read the letter.

My Dearest Vicky,

Words cannot express the guilt that I feel for what I have done. Rose has been prying at me since you left, but I refused to tell her anything. I couldn't send a letter as long as you were at home, but I knew I could get away with it when Rose informed me that you would be at Ron's. Listen, I know you can't write back, so read this and then make a decision. I never liked Anne. Not in the least, and I only used her to make you jealous. I had no idea you were following. I just wanted to make it appear that I was flirting with her so you would tell me you wanted me back. I thought you liked her brother, and it killed me to think that you didn't want me anymore. She kissed me, even though I didn't want her to. I am sorry for everything. That's all I can say. I don't want to lose you. I can't lose you! Please forgive me. Tell me when school is out. Meet me at King's Cross the day we arrive on platform 9 ¾. I love you, Vicky. It's always been you.

With all my love,

Teddy

Victoire felt the tears fall down her stricken face as she read and re-read the letter. For the first time in her life, she honestly did not know what she was going to do.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

**Chapter Seven**

Teddy was miserable. Ross had never seen him acting so badly. He was doing things on purpose just to get into trouble. He sulked in his room when he wasn't in detention. Ross barely got two words out of him daily. Ross was beginning to lose hope in Teddy ever recovering from this blow he had been dealt. He had written Victoire, but had since had no response even through Rose and it had been two weeks since the letter had been sent. The owl had since returned to the owlery. Teddy had gone there to check that something had not happened. He was getting thin from lack of food, since he had not been eating for the last few days.

Ross and Rose sat in the common room one evening contemplating what to do. "We can't just sit around and let him do this to himself," Rose commented.

"No, but I don't know what else to do. I've tried to talk to him, but he won't talk back much. I wouldn't want to get your Uncle Harry involved. I don't think he would take kindly to the idea that we contacted adults to fix something that he messed up. You know how he is about fixing his own problems."

"Maybe not Uncle Harry…" Rose murmured.

"Yeah, I'm sure you will explain what that means when you get ready. You're just like your mother so I've heard," Ross muttered.

"Okay, we can't get Uncle Harry, but we can get someone that Teddy will listen to."

"Surely you don't mean James. We couldn't get in touch with him if we wanted to, could we?"

"Well we could, but it would take far too long. No, I was thinking of Albus. He's a sixth year, too. We just never see him. He's always in the library. I only see him when I go to get a book to read. He is constantly studying. That's why Victoire and I quit trying to hang out with him. All he seems to want to do is work. So we're not all really close, but I think Teddy would listen to him, just because he's Uncle Harry's son. It's worth a shot. I'll get him and bring him to the common room. You find a way to get Teddy down here. I don't care if you have to tell him that Victoire is down here." Rose rushed out of the portrait hole as she was saying the last bit leaving Ross standing dumbfounded. He trudged up the stairs to his room. But he was surprised and shocked to find that Teddy wasn't there. He must have left under the cloak. Ross sat down with his head in his hands wondering what to do.

Teddy heard Ross and Rose talking as he crept silently down the stairs, the Invisibility Cloak draped over him. His heart was pounding in his chest, and he was certain that they could hear it. They never looked up as he neared the portrait hole. He was uncertain as to how to open it without them noticing when a first year pulled it open and just stood there long enough for Teddy to slip out unseen by any. He couldn't believe what had happened. He had sent a letter to Victoire, and somehow she had managed to respond.

Dear Teddy,

I think we should talk face to face, instead of through letters, since I am never sure when I can sneak a letter out bearing Rose's name. I have to tell the owl to take it to you, so I have to do it from Aunt Hermione's house when no one is around. I honestly am not sure what to do, but I feel we can talk it out better if we can see each other. I know it's going to be risky, but I have it all set up. Mum and Dad are leaving me at Aunt Hermione's on Friday night. Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron both have to work, so they won't be here until late. I can't stay long, but meet me in the Room of Requirement on Friday night at nine. Don't be late.

Vicky

And so Teddy was on his way to the Room of Requirement, heart pounding all the way. He saw Scorpius and a few other Slytherins standing around the entrance to the Room of Requirement, and thought for sure that he was doomed. Fortunately for him, he had remembered to consult his Marauders Map, and saw that the night patrol was headed right for them. And it was Professor McGonagall. He hugged the wall so that she wouldn't bump into him and cause him to miss his appointment.

"What are you three doing roaming the corridors at this hour? Fifty points from Slytherin, and off to bed with you!" she exclaimed exasperatedly. The three complained a bit but walked away toward their dormitory in the dungeon. Professor McGonagall briskly walked away down the seventh floor corridor. Just as Teddy was about to begin pacing in front of the door, it opened from the inside and a blond head peeked out.

"Teddy?" a frantic whisper called.

"I'm here," he whispered back, still under the cloak. She held the door open for him and he walked in before pulling the cloak off.

"Albus!" Rose cried, rushing into the library just as Albus rose, gathering his books. Madame Pince was getting ready to close the library up, as it was nearly nine. She had only kept it open because Albus was studying.

"The library is closing, young lady," Madame Pince said, a note of tiredness etching her voice.

"Oh, don't worry, I don't need anything. I just need Albus. Thank you though," Rose replied, grabbing Albus's arm and yanking him out into the hallway. "Listen, Albus, I need your help. Teddy hasn't been eating or speaking or anything for days. We need you to talk to him so that he will get over it."

"Rose, we have our examinations in a week, and you're worrying about Teddy's state of mind? Honestly, when he gets ready, he will talk to you. I really thought you knew that about him by now. Now, I need to get some sleep before tomorrow."

"Please, Albus, I'm begging you. Just talk to him," Rose pleaded.

"Oh all right. But I'm not staying up all night listening to him pour his heart out. I know all about it already. I'll just try to get him talking, and then I'm off to bed." Rose and Albus walked quickly up the stairs and through the portrait hole. They came face to face with a frantic-looking Ross.

"Okay, I've got him here. Now where's Teddy?"

"I don't know. I went upstairs to get him, and he was gone. He must have sneaked away under that blasted cloak again!"

"Ah well, good luck on finding him. I suppose I will have to have that little chat with him later. Good night, Rose, Ross." Albus nodded at them respectively before heading up the stairs to his own room.

"We've got to find him," Rose said immediately after Albus had disappeared.

"We can't go looking for him, Rose. We don't have the cloak. He does. He's not going to get into trouble. You know, before he was running around without the cloak just to get into trouble. He said he wanted to feel again…but that's another story. But he's got the cloak, so he must have gone on some important errand."

"Well, I'm not going to bed until he comes back," Rose said stubbornly, plopping into one of the armchairs.

As soon as Teddy pulled the cloak over his head and draped it onto the back of a chair that was handy, he found himself looking into troubled eyes within a tear-stained face. He wanted so badly to take her into his arms and comfort her, but he knew he could not do that just yet.

"If your parents find out that you're here, you know you're going to be in a lot of trouble," Teddy commented with an edge of concern in his voice.

"I know, but I had to see you. Teddy, I don't think we should be together. You see, that's what I couldn't write in the letter. And if we're not going to be together, I don't think that we should see each other at all anymore. That means that if we must be at family functions together, we stay well away from each other. Otherwise, we will not write or speak or anything else. I just can't get past what you did to me. And if I can't get past it, then we don't have a future together." Victoire's eyes were welling with tears for the millionth time in the last two weeks since the letter had come. She had read it many times, and strained herself to make this decision. It was going to be difficult to get over Teddy, but she knew she could do it. "It's over," she whispered.

Teddy didn't say a word. He sighed as a single tear fell down his cheek. He picked up one of her hands and lifted it to kiss it. He dropped it as she just stood there crying. He threw the cloak back over his head and exited the Room of Requirement. When he reached the portrait hole, he pulled the cloak off and mumbled the password. Ross and Rose looked up to see Teddy's drawn, white face, his normally vibrant hair a dull mousy brown. He smiled at them, but it didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Hey, guys. Thanks for waiting up for me. I think I'll just be going to bed now. Oh, and I don't need Albus to talk to me. But I'm glad you care." He passed them to slowly take the stairs one at the time. Ross and Rose exchanged a glance. Rose just shrugged.

Victoire lay in the bed she slept in at Hermione's and Ron's house. It was four in the morning and she had not slept a wink. All she could do was cry, it seemed. Just the mere thought of Teddy brought fresh tears to her eyes. At around six, she drifted off to sleep.

A week later, a much thinner Victoire arrived with her mother at Hogwarts to take her examinations with the rest of her classmates. She had a determined look on her face. She was determined, after all, not to cry and to make good grades. She had spent the last week studying relentlessly to keep her mind off of Teddy.

As soon as she entered Potions for her exam, Rose crashed into her with a tight embrace. But upon closer scrutiny of Victoire, Rose's brow furrowed in concern. "Vicky, you don't look well at all. Haven't you eaten?"

"I don't remember the last time I ate, honestly," Victoire replied wanly, looking over her shoulder to make sure her mother wasn't listening. She had been telling her mother that she had been eating during the day when no one was home and just wasn't hungry at dinner. She sighed.

"This is all because of Teddy, isn't it?" Rose asked, knowing the answer before she got the words out of her mouth.

"Rose, I just couldn't take it. I couldn't stay with him knowing that he was kissing Anne, whether or not she was kissing him first. He could have not even gone up with her. I mean, seeing him flirt with her in the Great Hall was enough. He should have realized that. Right?" She turned her eyes to Rose's.

"Vicky, everyone makes mistakes. And sometimes we go too far. Sometimes things can be repaired and sometimes they can't. But both people have to want the repairing, now don't they? If you don't want it, then your relationship with Teddy will remain as it is. You two will move on eventually and find someone else. But if you both want to repair what you had, or rather what you still have, whether you realize it or not, you've got to do it now or it will be too late. You cannot wait a year, Vicky. It doesn't work that way. By then he may be moved on."

"Oh, Rose, you don't understand!"

"Yes, I do! Why do you think I went to Ross when I did? I didn't want our friendship to be totally lost. I knew we couldn't ever be together again. In fact, Scorpius and I are dating again. But I'll tell you all about that later. But now Ross is okay with it, because we are just friends and we just want each other to be happy. You have to make a consideration, though. How is it truly going to make you feel when you see Teddy with another girl? Because, Victoire, if you don't get him back, it's inevitable. It will happen. If you know in the deepest part of your heart that it is going to tear you up inside, then by all means, go after him." Suddenly, their professor walked in and asked them to take their seats.

After the examination was over, Rose and Victoire walked to the Great Hall for lunch. They had Transfiguration after lunch, and wanted to go over some of the spells. But a Teddy-sighting in the hall cut their conversation short.

"Oh, Rose, hide me! I don't want to see him right now!"

"Just use a Disillusionment Charm, silly. I'll talk to him and you can hear it all. Hurry before he sees you!" Rose exclaimed, and just as he looked up, Victoire disappeared. She pressed her back to the wall so as not to get run over by the other students.

Teddy was just as thin and gaunt-looking as Victoire was. She shuddered at how sallow his face had gotten. She still knew he was the same person, but he just didn't look right. He smiled at Rose, but his eyes didn't light up like they used to.

"Hey, Rose! I've got some big news! Your Uncle Charlie wrote me today asking if I would like to come and spend the summer studying dragons with him."

"And what did you tell him?" Rose asked, an edge of excitement filling her voice despite her fear for the relationship between him and Victoire.

"I just dropped a letter at the owlery. I told him I would love to. I leave straight from Hogsmeade the day school is out." He took Rose by the arm and pulled her away from the crowd and over toward the wall where Victoire was standing. He spoke quietly, but she could still hear him. "I've got to get my mind off of her. I still love her Rose, and I always will. But I can't be in the same city with her and know that she doesn't feel the same way. So I'm going away. Oh, I've got to go. I'm going to be late. See you later!" He turned to walk away, turning back to wave. As soon as he was out of sight, Victoire made herself reappear.

"He's leaving?" she asked, tears filling her eyes. She sank with her back still to the wall and put her arms around herself and sobbed violently.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

**Chapter Eight**

After crying for a few moments, Victoire lifted her face and wiped the tears away. A determined look crossed her face. Rose didn't like what she was seeing. She knew that look.

"Vicky, what are you thinking?" Rose asked apprehensively.

"I have to stop him from leaving. He doesn't know how I feel about him." Victoire stood up and began running down the corridor.

"Don't be late for Transfiguration exam!" Rose called after her, knowing that there was nothing she could do at this point to stop Victoire when she was so determined to do something.

Victoire ran all the way to the Great Hall and skidded to a halt, narrowly missing being hit by the doors opening. She ran in, breathless, to the Gryffindor table. Her old group of friends sat chatting. Ian was there, capturing the attention of the girls in the group. She didn't bother to stop and talk to them, and they voiced their complaints as she ran by. She spotted Teddy toward the end of the table. Ross sat by him, and both were laughing. She opened her mouth to call his name when Anne appeared, seemingly out of nowhere and sat down beside him. Victoire's blood began to boil, and she struggled to keep herself in check this time. She watched helplessly as Anne sat down beside Teddy, and leaned in kissing him on the cheek. Teddy looked up, suddenly, as if feeling that he was being watched. His eyes met hers as tears welled in them. She shook her head and turned to run back in the direction she had just come from.

Teddy sat there for a moment, watching Victoire retreating, wondering briefly what had just happened. He had come into the Great Hall after talking with Rose about his plans for the summer. He had sat down and Ross had told him a great joke, which he had laughed at. It was the first time in weeks he had really laughed and felt even the slightest bit happy. Then Anne, who had become rather annoying what with her incessant flirtation with him, had come up and planted a kiss right on his cheek. He had told her time and again that he really wished that she wouldn't do it, but she continued to torture him. He assumed that she was just hoping he was going to ask her out since Victoire had officially ended their relationship. The next thing he knew, he saw the last person he had expected to see and she was already running away crying.

He pushed Anne out of the way rather rudely, and took off running after Victoire. He wasn't letting her get away again. Not this time. He caught her just outside the Great Hall, grabbing her arm as he fell toward her pulling her down with him. He took the opportunity to pin her to the ground despite her struggling.

"You have to talk to me, Victoire. Please," Teddy pleaded, choking on emotion.

"What do you want me to say, Teddy?!" Victoire cried out through her tears, finally giving up the struggle and looking up into his eyes. She felt a surge of emotion crash through her body when their eyes met. She loved him but she couldn't let that control her. She just couldn't let go of what he had done.

"I want you to say that you want to be with me. I want you to say that you still love me. I want you, Victoire, and only you." Teddy's eyes were pleading with her, but she knew she had to stand strong.

"Teddy, I can't do that. I just don't trust you. I want to trust you, but I can't. I do still love you, but, Teddy, it's over. You have to accept that. Move on with your life. Let me move on. I cannot possibly move on if you keep doing this. You reopen these wounds and make them fresh again. Just when I think I'm going to get past it, you come along and tell me that you still love me. Please, don't. Not anymore." Victoire closed her eyes so that she couldn't see the hurt and tears in his eyes. She hated doing this to him. But as badly as she wanted to be with him, she couldn't do it. She just didn't feel it was right.

Teddy's heart was beating double-time in his chest. He couldn't believe this was happening to him. He was losing the one person he had loved with his whole heart. It was his greatest fear realized. He had always feared losing everyone he loved, and it was happening. He pulled himself off of Victoire. He didn't even bother to help her up. He couldn't bear to even look at her. He walked away from her and didn't look back.

It had been two weeks since the school year at Hogwarts had ended. Teddy had arrived in Egypt safe and sound with Charlie. Charlie had met him in Hogsmeade so that Teddy wouldn't accidentally Apparate in the wrong spot. Since he had arrived, Charlie had become like his older brother. He had listened to everything that had happened with Victoire and was helping him move past it. Teddy was eating better now and sleeping all night again. He had wanted to write to Victoire a million times, but he couldn't ever find the words to express his feelings without just outright saying that he still loved her. She had asked him not to say that to her anymore. Rose had written to him. She was visiting Scorpius every few days since he was her new sort of old boyfriend. Her letters didn't contain much about Victoire, but Teddy gleaned what he could.

One letter in particular, though, really upset him. He sat at the table in Charlie's kitchen for over an hour staring into space after reading it. Rose had rambled on for two pages about nothing, and then, right at the end, she mentioned that Victoire had gone out on a date with Ian and that Anne enclosed a letter of her own. Anne's letter, however, was not what he was expecting either. She was apologizing for her appalling behavior in kissing him and flirting with him when he so obviously needed his space and she hoped he would forgive her. She went on to say that she would completely understand if he chose not to ever talk to her or see her again.

"Teddy," Charlie had said, breaking into his random thoughts, "I have to go tend to a hurt Hungarian Horntail today. I don't think you should come to deal with this just yet, so if you don't mind, you can just stay here today. Or you can go shopping around town." Teddy had nodded absentmindedly, and Charlie had bid him farewell before Disapparating.

Teddy scrambled around in some drawers in Charlie's office and found some parchment and an inkwell and quill. He scribbled a quick note to Anne that he forgave her and hoped that they could still be friends, although his time would be limited. He then pulled another piece of parchment out and put Rose's name at the top. He also wrote her a quick note on how he was doing and that he hoped she would keep him updated. He sent them both by Charlie's owl Maris and set out for a day on the town, only not in Egypt. He didn't want to continue pondering how in the world he was going to win Victoire away from Ian, but he wanted to be in familiar territory. He decided he would go to his favorite place in London—Diagon Alley.

Victoire walked quietly through Diagon Alley with Ian. They had had a bit of Butterbeer when they first arrived and had been in several shops. No matter how hard she tried, Victoire just couldn't get him off her mind. She had hoped that Rose mentioning that she had been seeing Ian off and on would have gotten a rise out of him, but all it had earned was to please keep him updated on everyone. She wanted so badly to write him. She had just passed her Apparition license, but was still quite afraid of being splinched. The first few times she tried it with her mother's help, she had left an ear behind. The second round of tries, she kept leaving chunks of her hair. It was terrible. Her mother kept saying it was because she wasn't concentrating, which wasn't entirely untrue. She kept thinking about him.

Every corner she and Ian turned in Diagon Alley that day, she hoped with all of her heart she would see him. She had no idea why he would be back in London, but she hoped desperately that he would be there for whatever reason. Then it happened. She was passing Flourish and Botts and she saw the edge of someone's bright red hair, and not the color of her Uncle Ronald's either.

"Ian, would you excuse me for a moment? I want to stop in here and look at a book I've been wanting. I'll meet you at Florean Fortescue's in a bit." She smiled graciously at him, using her part-Veela against him. He nodded and headed on for the ice cream parlor. She ducked into the book shop. She studied Teddy from afar. His face had filled back out, so he had obviously begun eating again. Perhaps spending time with Charlie was good for him. She slipped in and out of the rows of books trying to get closer to him without his noticing. She had just pulled herself into the row of books right behind him when he turned around.

Teddy knew he had seen something out of the corner of his eye. Whoever it was had disappeared down an aisle of books, though. He turned his attention back to the book he was eyeing. He picked it up almost disbelievingly. It was a book about a man whom he considered to be almost like his father—Harry Potter. Fortunately it was not written by the awful Rita Skeeter. He took it on to the counter so that he could purchase it when he saw a blond head of hair dart into another aisle. He would have sworn on his life that it was her. How could it be that the one day he decided to visit Diagon Alley would be the day she decided to be here as well?

"Is this all for you, son?" a kindly woman behind the counter asked.

"Yes," he replied, pulling out some money. He paid for it, but instead of leaving, he went to the aisle where he had just seen her go. But there was no sign of her. He ambled down the aisle. He knew she still had his cloak, and she could be using it. He began perusing the other books on the aisle so as to not look suspicious if she were near. He pulled a book down off the shelf and met her blue eyes through the crack. He heard her gasp as her eyes grew wide. He grinned through the gap. He put the book back on the shelf, but before he could get back up to the front of the store, he heard the bell over the door jingle as she rushed out.

He sighed and ambled slowly back up the row of books. He left the store and looked up and down the street both ways. He saw the back of her head as she stood talking to someone in front of the ice cream parlor. Upon closer scrutiny, he realized it was Ian Paxton, Anne's brother. He sighed again. He had hoped that when Rose put in that letter that she had been seeing Ian that perhaps it was Victoire's way of trying to get him to come back to her or maybe to let him know how it felt to think that your significant other was with someone else. But seeing them together outside of school made his heart ache. He walked over to them, hoping he could at least get her to speak to him. But as soon as he got close, she shot him a look that said, "Don't you dare!"

As Victoire shot him the look that she didn't want him talking to her while she was with Ian, even if she didn't like Ian like that, Teddy got a pained look on his face, and with a loud crack, disappeared. She turned back to Ian, who was talking about something. She wasn't really sure what.

"…and while you were in the bookstore, I saw—" he was saying.

"Ian, I have to go," she interrupted suddenly.

"What? I thought your mom said you could spend the whole day out." He sounded hurt, but she honestly couldn't care less at this point.

"She did," Victoire replied, "but I just remembered that I promised Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron that Rose and I would watch Hugo tonight. He still can't stay home by himself, according to their rules. I didn't tell my mum about it. So I'll see you later." She didn't even give him time to respond before she, too, disappeared with a loud crack. She only prayed she didn't leave her ears behind.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

**Chapter Nine**

Victoire did indeed Apparate to Hermione and Ron's but no one was home. She shouldn't have expected them to be. After all, it was the middle of the day during the summer vacation. She expected that Hermione and Ron were at work at the Ministry, and Rose and Hugo were undoubtedly at friends' houses where they generally spent their days when their mum and dad had to work, which was pretty much every day except the weekends, and sometimes even then. Rose and Victoire used to spend summer days together, but seeing as Victoire had made plans with Ian for the day, Rose had made other plans it seemed. Hugo was truly not allowed at home by himself, so Victoire figured that someone had arranged for him to go to a cousin's or friend's house. She sighed as she leaned back against the front door. She sat down on the top step of their stoop with her head in her hand thinking about what she was going to do. She was still there three hours later when Teddy finally found her.

Teddy was not at all happy with the way things were unfolding. Victoire had just Disapparated out of Diagon Alley and he had no idea where she was most likely to go. He had Disapparated to Hogsmeade hoping that she would have gone to Madame Rosmerta's to have a butterbeer to calm her nerves, but the only familiar face he saw besides the bartender herself was Hugo Weasley with one of his friends that Teddy didn't know. He reasoned to himself that Hugo had to at least know where Rose was. Since Rose and Victoire were rather close friends, he figured he could find Victoire if he found Rose. At least, that was the hope that he was clinging to. He didn't dare give rise to any other ideas that she might be elsewhere, somewhere that he couldn't find or get to her. He approached Hugo hopefully.

"Hey, Hugo!" he greeted him heartily, so as not to immediately alarm him of his current distress.

"Hey, Teddy, what's going on? I thought you were in Romania working with Uncle Charlie!"

"He gave me the day off and I was doing some visiting. Do you know where I might find Rose? I was hoping to see her before I went back this evening."

Hugo frowned and looked rather vicious. "She went off with that Scorpius Malfoy, even though Mum and Dad don't know it. They think she's off with one of her other friends. I hate lying to them for her. But I suppose she would do the same for me if I asked her. And if she wouldn't I would remind her that I did…anyway, I don't know where they were going, but last time they went out, she said they went to a muggle move thatter or something like that. I can't remember what they're called and I didn't want to ask Mum. She knows everything about muggles, but she would have wanted to know why I wanted to know. She knows I don't take Muggle Studies. Anyway, Rose said they went there so no one would recognize them."

"Uh, thanks, Hugo," Teddy replied. He was mystified. He had been brought up by his grandmother Andromeda, who was a witch so he had no idea what this so-called "move thatter" was, but he knew that if it was something popular that muggles liked, there could be hundreds of them in London. He figured the only way to find out would be to ask someone who knew a thing or two about muggles, and currently the only person he could think of that did was Aunt Hermione. He had always called her that, even though technically they weren't related. He supposed she would be at work, but he hated to rat out Rose by asking what this muggle location was. Perhaps if he thought really hard about Rose, he could Disapparate to where she was. He decided to try this method before completely giving up hope and asking Aunt Hermione.

Rose laced her fingers through Scorpius's and smiled up at him. His crystal blue eyes pierced her brown ones as the sun sparkled back at her from his eyes. His ash blond hair fell messily around his ears. He was not so fair as his father, but the resemblance when seeing them standing side by side was rather striking. She enjoyed these times with him, because they always went to a muggle attraction and no one knew nor cared who they were or that they were together. They just looked like a normal muggle couple. Rose knew from her mother how to dress like a muggle and had helped Scorpius the first few times. After he had made himself a small muggle wardrobe he just chose one of the outfits.

They were going to an art museum today. This was something that was no uncommon in the wizarding world and some wizards and witches even had paintings hanging in these galleries. Rose was interested to see which names she might recognize.

A little while later, she and Scorpius were in a deserted room of the museum inspecting a painting done by someone Scorpius knew to be a witch when a loud CRACK made Rose let out a small scream and grip Scorpius's hand hard.

"It worked!" Teddy yelled triumphantly, causing Scorpius and Rose to look perfectly confused once the shock wore off and their hearts stopped pounding.

"Sorry, but what worked?" Rose asked breathlessly. Scorpius still had a look of shock mingled with confusion on his face. He seemed to have lost his ability to speak as his mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out.

"Well," Teddy began, "I had no idea where you were, so I concentrated really hard on your face in my mind and Disapparated and I appeared here. I'm really glad to see you. And don't worry, I won't tell your mum where you are or who you're really with. Hugo already explained that much to me. Look, it's been about an hour and a half since Victoire Disapparated out of Diagon Alley to who-knows-where and I was wondering if you could help me find her. Where might she go if she were upset?"

"You upset her? Honestly, Teddy, will you never learn?" Rose sighed and let go of Scorpius's hand. "You look awful, Teddy. Why don't you walk through the rest of the museum with us, seeing as there are some people in here now and if you Disapparate you're going to get in trouble and they're going to question us endlessly? When we finish, we'll find a deserted alley and you can Disapparate from there. I obviously don't need to tell you where she might be seeing as you concentrated on my face really hard and found me. You can do the same for her, can't you?"

"Oh, yeah," Teddy nodded sheepishly. He was rather ashamed for not realizing this himself—that if he found one person in that manner he could most obviously find another in the same way. He checked his reflection in the glass covering a dark painting and saw he did look rather disheveled. He pulled out a pocket comb and managed to make his hair lie down a bit flatter. When no one was looking, he changed his hair from his color of the day to a nice dark brown. He got a few odd looks after that. He knew the muggles undoubtedly thought their eyes were playing tricks on them. He even changed his style to less unruly curls. He was going for the most unaltered natural appearance he could manage while still looking dignified. He hated how unruly his hair could get if he never changed it.

Finally, after the longest and most boring hour and a half he had ever endured in his entire life, Teddy emerged from the museum with Rose and Scorpius. They were discussing some painting they had both really liked. "Look, I hate to interrupt, but I didn't want to see the museum in the first place," Teddy interjected.

"Well, seeing as we're out, I would say that you can leave whenever you please," Scorpius sneered. Teddy had never liked him. He briefly thought of threatening to tell Aunt Hermione about the two, but decided against it as he turned to walk away. He nodded his head at Rose and she nodded back, mouthing "I'm sorry" and indicating Scorpius. Teddy just shrugged before disappearing around a corner into a dark alleyway.

Victoire yanked her head out of her hand at the sound of someone Apparating in the yard. She had been quite lost in thought and had no idea how long she had been sitting on Aunt Hermione's stoop. She felt rather bad about the whole thing. She should have gone on to her own house. Her parents would surely be worried by now. She saw Teddy's form in the late afternoon light. She didn't know what to do. She wanted to jump on him and kiss him and punch him and cry and laugh all at the same time. Fortunately, she didn't have to decide what to do at all. He was suddenly standing before her with his arms out. She didn't hesitate at all. She just followed her heart. She rushed into his arms without further thought on the matter. In the next moment, his lips were pressed against hers and she kissed him back with all the fervor she could muster. In the back of her mind, she was thinking that she couldn't believe she had let this go on for so long. She should have just believed him in the first place and so much would not have happened.

After holding her close for a few moments, Teddy pulled back to look at her. "I know that this happening doesn't make everything all right, and I know we're going to really have to work at making this work between us, but, Victoire, I can't believe we didn't just make up at the beginning."

"It's my own stupid fault, Teddy. I should have just heard you out and talked things out with you before I just jumped to conclusions about you and Anne."

"I have to tell you something, though. I did sort of date her after you were gone from Hogwarts."

"I know, and I realize now that you were just trying to get over me. You thought you would never have me back, just like I thought I would never have you back. Oh, Teddy, we were both so stupid about the whole thing."

"It's not going to be easy, you know," he said.

"No," Victoire said thoughtfully, "but it WILL be worth it."

*three months later*

"Victoire, hurry up! You're going to be late for the Express! It leaves in exactly forty minutes!" Bill Weasley called up the stairs to his daughter. He loved her very much, but she really could be slow when she wanted to.

"I know, Dad, I'm coming!" she called back exasperatedly. She had only just finished packing her bags when an owl came from Teddy. He was saying how sorry he was, but that three dragons had escaped the night before and he didn't know if he was going to be able to see her off to school for her last year at Hogwarts. She was straightening her makeup from crying a bit over it, but she decided not to cry too much seeing as she would see him on the Hogsmeade weekends and when she got to go home. And he was certain he would be permitted to visit Hogwarts on some weekends when she didn't have too much homework. She sighed to herself as she dragged her trunk down the stairs glumly.

"Oh, Victoire, what eez it now?" her mother asked her, seeing the look on her face.

"Teddy sent me an owl. He said he probably won't make it to the train, because three dragons escaped last night and he's helping bring them in."

"Well, that eez his job, eez it not? You will see him again," Fleur replied. Victoire just nodded in reply. "Bill, see that she gets on safely. I am in no condition to travel." Bill smiled knowingly at his wife.

"What's going on?" Victoire asked suspiciously.

"Your mother is pregnant, Victoire," Bill replied. "We just found out! She's going to Saint Mungo's today."

Victoire dropped her trunk as her face lit up. "Really, Mum? That's great!" She hugged her mother and kissed her on the cheek.

"I'll see you soon!" Fleur said as her daughter and husband headed out the door.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

**Chapter Ten**

Victoire sat glumly in the back seat of the car her Uncle Ron had managed to get from the ministry. She was sandwiched between Hugo and Rose, and much to her dismay, they were arguing. They were well on their way to King's Cross when Rose realized she didn't have her favorite book. She had read it a million times, but she didn't care. It was a biography written about the newest wizard boy band, Dragon Fire, who had been playing wizard rock music for a little over a year. Victoire herself didn't care for the band, but Rose was crazy over them. The argument started when Rose got hysterical about the book.

"Hugo, have you seen my Dragon Fire book? I want to read it on the train." Rose asked as nicely as possible through her gritted teeth. She had been searching every bag she could get her hands on since they got in the car, and Victoire could tell she was getting very frustrated.

"I haven't touched your stupid book, Rosie," Hugo replied, using Rose's much-hated childhood nickname. "Besides, why would you wanna look at that old book anyway? You've read it already."

"So?" Rose retorted. "Maybe I just like looking at the pictures."

"Oh yes, you think the guys are so cute, don't you?" Hugo sniggered.

"Where's my book, Hugo?!" Rose screeched at him, trying to get at him across Victoire's lap. "What did you do with it?!" she screamed.

"I told you, I didn't touch your crummy old book!" Hugo yelled back at her, trying his best to fend off her grappling hands. Finally, Victoire had had enough. She pulled out her wand and forced the two apart and off her lap.

"Accio, Dragon Fire book!" she summoned exasperatedly. The book came flying out of Rose's rucksack, turning a few things out on its way from the very bottom.

"See!" Hugo cried triumphantly. "I told you I didn't have it." He sat back in his seat grinning. Rose was blushing profusely. She hated it when her little brother was right about something, especially when it involved her.

Hermione turned around in the front seat and looked pointedly at Rose. "Don't you have something to say to your brother?" she asked, raising one eyebrow.

"Sorry, Hugo," Rose mumbled.

"There, now that that's settled," Hermione continued, "your Uncle Bill has some much unexpected news he would like to tell you."

"Your Aunt Fleur is pregnant!" Bill announced excitedly, his face lighting up. "She will be having a baby around March or so." Rose and Hugo grinned excitedly, but quickly lost interest in the adult conversation about the new baby. Rose buried her nose in her book and Hugo stared out the window. Victoire was left to find something to do, so she listened to her father, her Aunt Hermione, and her Uncle Ron discuss the newest addition to their already over-large family.

"…very unexpected," her father was saying. "We've been trying ever since Victoire went to Hogwarts for her first year, but we've been unable. We had come to the conclusion that we couldn't have any more children. Then about two months ago, Fleur came to me and said she felt ill. Soon, she was sick all the time. I was worried about her but I didn't want to worry anyone else, so Fleur encouraged me not to say anything. Then a couple of weeks ago, she said she was going to St. Mungo's. She's lost loads of weight from throwing up so much. She didn't know what was wrong with her. They told her she was pregnant, and a Healer performed a spell to help with her nausea. They said to come back in another month for a checkup and to see that the baby is growing at a good rate. I can't believe she isn't even showing yet, though."

"I'm so surprised," Hermione replied. "I know you're not old, but I just figured you weren't going to have anymore seeing as Victoire's already seventeen. That's a big age difference, although I think it will be good for her to have a younger sibling."

"I haven't told Mum yet, but I plan to at the station after all the kids are on board the train. I don't want her to make a scene."

"Well, mate, you'd best wait until she's home safe then, because anywhere you tell her, there's going to be a scene," Ron replied, chuckling. Bill and Hermione laughed too, because they knew that Molly Weasley would indeed make a scene, considering she thought that her days of having new grandchildren that weren't great-grandchildren were over.

The car pulled up to King's Cross, and Hugo had the door open before the car was even stopped. He had disappeared inside before anyone else had set foot out of the car. "I'll go get him," Hermione said. "You get the trunks and animals unloaded and onto trolleys." She set off after Hugo while the girls got to work unloading the animals. Victoire's mother had gotten her a long-haired white Siamese kitten with the prettiest blue eyes. It mewed mournfully from its carrying box. Victoire knew it longed to be released.

"Not until we get on the train, Peppermint," she said soothingly. She slipped a treat through the little door on the front. The kitten began crunching on it. Rose pulled out a similar box, also containing a new kitten. Hers was black as the darkest night with bright green eyes, and his meow sounded more like a howl. Rose had decided to call him Howler. The girls couldn't wait to see how the kittens would play together on the train.

Finally, the trolleys were loaded and amidst the mews, howls, and other assorted sounds of the stations, the girls pushed their trolleys toward the barrier. Hermione had never showed back up with Hugo, so Ron was pushing his trolley. Fortunately, he didn't have an animal of his own yet. Ron and Hermione had decided that he was not responsible enough to have one. His running off the second they got to the train station was a prime example of that, Ron was saying to Bill as he huffed the trolley toward the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Suddenly, Ron saw Hermione harshly scolding their son.

"If you ever run away from me like that again, you won't be going back to Hogwarts. Do you understand me?" Hermione asked firmly, a stern look on her face.

Hugo looked up at her with tears in his eyes. "Yes, Mother," he squeaked.

"What happened?" Ron asked, breathing heavily as he handed the trolley off to Hugo.

"I finally found him, already on the other side of the barrier!" Hermione exclaimed. "Goodness knows how many muggles could have seen him going through. Then once I found him, he took off running in the other direction as soon as he saw me. I don't know what he was doing and he refused to tell me!" She looked at him and noticed he was holding a gift-wrapped box with a bow up towards her.

"It's your birthday present," he said in a voice that was almost a whisper. "I had one of my friends special order it for me and bring it here so I could give it to you before I left. That's what I was doing." Hermione's eyes filled with tears as she swept her little boy in an embrace. She opened the present to find a beautiful heart pendant with rubies and topaz stones all the way around it on a very fine gold chain. "They're the Gryffindor colors, Mother," he said. "Happy birthday!" His chin was still quivering along with his lower lip. Hermione dropped a kiss on his cheek before putting the necklace on.

"I love it, Hugo," she said simply, a smile on her face. He smiled too, and all was right between mother and son.

"All right, all right," Ron said, "we'd better get through the barrier or we're all going to be late. Look, there's Harry!" Sure enough, Harry and Ginny were followed by their own three children, James, Albus, and Lily. Everyone began going through the barrier in twos. Victoire was last as she went through with her father. On the other side of the barrier, Bill began to regale Harry with his good news, but no more had he said hello and given him a big hug than Fleur appeared through the barrier.

"I couldn't let my girl go off without her mother's goodbye!" she exclaimed when Bill protested to her presence. He did, however, let her tell Harry and Ginny the good news of their newest expectation. Victoire seized the opportunity to load her things onto the train and come back for the rest of the goodbyes. She had just stepped off the train when a pair of hands covered her eyes.

"Guess who?" an all-too-familiar voice whispered in her ear.

"Teddy!" she squealed, turning to face him. His hair was a lovely turquoise, like it had been the day he was born and also very messy, his eyes a warm brown. She squeaked her pleasure at seeing him again before throwing herself into his arms. He picked her up in his arms, spun her around and set her down on her feet again. "I though you weren't going to be able to be here!" Victoire said, pulling back to look at him.

"Well, Charlie let me come after all. By the way, he and Christiana are expecting again. Christiana swears this is going to be their last."

"I don't see how you stood staying with them what with all the children afoot."

"It wasn't too bad. They were gone most of the day, and I was usually working with Charlie. I had my own room and the kids never came all the way to the third floor. Their rooms were all on the second floor."

"Well, they're not the only ones expecting. Mum and Dad told me this morning that they're having another baby in March. Can you believe it?" Victoire reported.

"Really? That's really great." Suddenly the whistle on the train blew signaling they only had five more minutes before boarding. "I know you need to go, but I have something for you." Teddy pulled a small box out of his pocket and pulled Victoire behind one of the barriers. He got down on his knee and opened the box. "Victoire, will you marry me?"

Victoire's eyes filled with tears. "Oh, yes, Teddy! Yes I will!" she cried. He swept her into his arms and began fiercely kissing her.

Suddenly James rushed up yelling for Victoire. "Teddy, WHAT are you doing?" he asked.

"I came to see Victoire off," Teddy replied between kisses. "Now go away."

Eleven Years Later

Molly Weasley was putting up the Christmas decorations as she listened to Celestina Warbeck belt Christmas songs from the radio. Teddy and Victoire sat on the sofa, Victoire's belly swollen with their third child. Her son and daughter, Annie who was seven, and William who was five, were playing outside with Victoire's younger sister and brother, Dominique who was ten, and Louis who was also seven. Dominique was a vixen of a veela already, even at only ten years of age. Her hair was a sheen of red, here eyes a sparkling green. Louis, however, looked nothing like either of his parents and they jokingly said he had been switched at birth. He had dark hair and dark eyes. Annie, Victoire and Teddy's eldest, currently had platinum blond hair with bright pink stripes in it and crystal blue eyes. She had inherited her father's ability to change her appearance. William often complained, because he couldn't do that. Instead, he had messy honey-colored hair and hazel eyes.

"You'd best call all the children, Teddy, dear," Molly said. "Dinner's almost ready and they'll be wanting to open presents as soon as possible." Teddy smiled at his wife as he rose from the sofa to go reign them all in from the chilly outdoors. She smiled back as she felt their baby kick inside her belly.

"We're here!" a cry came from the kitchen. Ron and Hermione appeared in the doorway. "Sorry we're late. Harry and Ginny are on their way. Where is everybody else?"

"Rose and Scorpius are upstairs bringing down the rest of the presents. I still can't believe the two of them have been married for five years. Let's see, James was degnoming the garden. That boy needs a girlfriend. Albus and Mary Anne are due here any minute. I'm still planning their wedding. That girl is so picky. Let's see, Lily and Craven are getting the dining room ready. I think that covers it? Oh yes, Charlie and Christiana should be back any minute from Diagon Alley with George and Percy bringing their presents. Apparently George and Percy had something enormous they needed help with. Hugo was helping James, I think."

"Our family is far too large," Ron mumbled. "What about Charlie's kids?"

"I don't know if all seven of them are coming." Suddenly there were a host of voices from the kitchen and the living room began to fill to capacity. George and Percy came in followed by Charlie and Christiana. Following them were their seven children each with a significant other. Teddy came in followed by Bill, Fleur, James, Albus, Dominique, Louis, Annie, and William. Rose and Scorpius came from downstairs just as Albus and Mary Anne entered the front door from Apparating just outside the protective barriers. Lily and Craven came to tell Molly the dining room was ready. Harry and Ginny appeared out of the kitchen as well. The din was more than Arthur Weasley could take when he entered the room.

"QUIET!" he bellowed. The room slowly fell silent. "If everyone will please step into the dining room, it's time for Christmas dinner," he told them jovially. He couldn't believe how much his family had grown. He had thought he would never quite get over it when he lost Fred, but he knew now that he had more than he could ever ask for.

Teddy sat at the table looking around at the people he now called his family. He realized not for the first time that his greatest fear was and had always been unfounded. He had always thought that if he loved someone he would only lose them. His love for Victoire and his willingness to face his fear to give her his love had helped him to see that love only brings people closer together. He knew that if his parents could be there, they would be so proud of him and his wife and children. He missed them terribly just as the Weasleys missed Fred, but he knew that everything worked itself out in the end. He smiled to himself as the family grabbed hands and Arthur Weasley said grace, and he knew at that moment that his life could not get any better than this.


End file.
